Whispers in the Night
by keep-swinging
Summary: Nightwing and Kid Flash would do anything to prevent the impossible. When the two heroes are pushed to their limits and forced to do the literal impossible, with their loved ones in the line of fire, will they ever be able to go back to the people they used to be?
1. one

**Whispers in the Night**

* * *

 ** _This_ chapter contains:**

Spoilers: Some for Season 1 and the start of Season 2

Random Lyrics from: Scars by Papa Roach

Pairings: Dick and Wally brotherly friendship and Spitfire

Categories for this story (bold are the main ones): **angst** , **friendship** , romance, **crime** , **hurt &comfort**, **suspense** , tragedy and family.

Updated: I am attempting every one week and/or two week updates.

Extra Notes: This has turned into a sorta AU of season 2 with a new OC villain. This will focus on the three main characters of Dick, Wally and Artemis with features of both the new and old Young Justice Teams and Justice League. For this story—Bart is already with the team (this first chapter takes place before the start of season 2 but after the time skip, the story slowly moves through season 2), The Light and The Reach are defeated and I figure that the Justice League knows all of the civilian IDs of each other as well as all of the civilian IDs of the Young Justice team.

 _This_ chapter is **rated teen for** topics of abuse, mentions of torture, very heavy violent scenes, small amounts of improper language, periods of suggestive themes and scary visuals.

* * *

i tear my heart open

* * *

It was a chilly Friday night in the mist of late January and nineteen old Dick Grayson, also known as Nightwing, was nearly falling over from exhaustion. He had been at the hologram computer nearly the entire day, guiding the new team through yet another routine mission.

He allowed Tim Drake, better known as the current Robin, to take the lead and it went less than perfect but Dick wasn't too mad, how could he be? Hell, he used to be in the kid's shoes, actually he still was sometimes; having to choose the best way out of impossible decisions. Batman had stopped in and was less than happy with the team's performance when they got back but Dick took the fall for it.

He was the man behind the computer, the man who was supposed to guide the young guys away from danger.

Another part of him argued with himself, about how danger was part of the job—always was, always had been. Dick couldn't count how many times he had been thrown in sticky situations. He was also used to taking the brunt of things, he hated when other people got hurt, even if it was rare, because of him.

Dick was always one to feel guilty about the littlest things.

So after Batman and the rest of the team cleared out, he pulled Tim aside he told him not to worry about Bruce—they both knew how tough he could be sometimes. The young boy seemed slightly more reassured when he was leaving after Dick had talked to him and that was nearly three hours ago.

Now the clock was tittering near one in the morning and Dick ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. With a few concluding clicks and swipes a final shutdown screen came up and he tapped the 'confirm shutdown' tab with his finger. A loading bar appeared on screen, the numbers slowly accelerating from zero up to a hundred percent.

As he waited, Dick took off his domino mask for a moment and rubbed at his sore eyes.

He walked over to the mirror that sat in the far corner of the room and took a look at himself.

His jet black hair was still sticking up in some places from rolling out of bed that morning, black Nightwing suit dull in the lime light of the room, his slim muscular form sagged with the tolls of running off buildings and fighting, and his baby blue irises slightly bloodshot from the few hours of sleep he had been getting—Blüdhaven was ripe with endless criminals at the moment. Dick exhaled softly before turning and moving towards the zeta beam, placing his black mask back over his eyes.

"Shutdown complete."

He stood still in the zeta beam, the yellow light engulfing his body before transporting him to the abandoned, old phone booth in Gotham City. He groaned out loud, cursing to himself quietly as he slammed his fist against the creaky metal.

"Damn it Bruce," He seethed to himself as he exited the booth, using his graphing hook to propel himself up to the top of a tall building.

Batman had told Dick that he re-programmed the zeta beam to be able to transfer the young adult to Blüdhaven so that if Dick ever worked late he could get to his apartment in the town easy enough. Dick walked to the front corner of the building and took a seat, his legs dangling off the edge.

Next he tapped a few buttons on his suit's communicator, bringing up a small holographic screen of Alfred at Wayne Manor.

"How can I be of help Master Richard?"

Dick couldn't help but smile at the sight of the butler, Alfred was like a grandfather to him. "What are you doing up this late Al? I'm really sorry if I woke you." The butler looked tired and Dick felt bad about calling without even thinking first.

"Of course not sir, a butler's job is never finished, I usually don't go to bed until two."

"Al, I think I've told you a million times by now to just call me Dick. Plus I don't live with you guys anymore so there is no need for the 'master' or 'sir', really."

Alfred looked unamused but Dick could see his lips twitch, the older man trying to hold back a grin. "You are always welcomed here Richard, you and Bruce and Tim are all family to me."

Dick chuckled, "I know Al . . . thanks."

Alfred smiled gently and tapped his forehead with a pearly-white handkerchief. "So what trouble have you gotten into to be calling at such a ghastly hour?"

Dick scratched the back of his head and the hologram screen flickered once but neither took notice to it. They were on a secure channel after all, no one would ever be able to hack it. "Didn't Bruce re-program the zeta beam in the cave to hook up to Blüdhaven for me a few weeks ago?"

"One second sir, just let me check." The hologram wavered again, the signal seeming to start to cut out. Dick's brow furrowed, it was impossible to be losing signal—neither of them were moving so the signal should have been perfectly fine. "Sir?"

"What'd you find out Alfred?"

The older man looked distressed, "The zeta beam was hooked up to a deserted pharmacy store next to your apartment. Master Bruce had scoped it out for you, there was an entrance through the roof. But there is something odd about when you exited the cave tonight." Dick heard something scrape behind him suddenly and whipped around, hand resting on one of his fighting sticks.

The dark sky was the only thing behind him, along with a crescent milky moon and multiple stars dotting the sky. Dick quickly scanned his surroundings, Alfred becoming worried on the other end of the line. "Master Richard? Is everything alright?" Dick looked around one last time before turning back around, now standing, and looking down at Gotham City before him.

"Just thought I heard something but it's nothing. So what was odd? Was there a screw up with the system mainframe or a glitch?" Alfred gulped silently, his heart feeling heavy. There couldn't be someone after Dick . . . even if all of the facts were staring him blankly in the face. "Al?"

"Sorry sir; so I brought up the system memory to see if your Blüdhaven location was programmed into the system, which it was a few weeks ago by the official digital trademark of Batman of course but the troubling thing I found is that a certain ID hacked into the computer and messed around with the system changing your B01 designation address back to Gotham for tonight only. Then the ID, which is named B20, set the computer system to restart and delete any trace of past system changes from a week past—including tonight—exactly at three in the morning."

Dick's mind was racing, his heart beating fast in his chest. He could hear Alfred typing something else into the bat-computer, but it felt as if his ears were filled with the blood rushing to them. Dick didn't know if it was better to be pissed or act on stunned silence. "Sir, isn't B20 Master Drake's designation for the cave?" Dick was too busy minimizing Alfred's picture and moving it to the top left corner of the hologram; starting up the cave computer and quickly trying to access the mainframe.

He needed to make sure nothing was erased.

"Alfred, is Tim home?"

"Yes he got in—"

"Get him down there and on the hologram now." Alfred nodded and his face disappeared along with the square, leaving Dick to work on his hacking. Every few seconds the young adult peeked at the time in the top right corner of the hologram, almost afraid that if he didn't check one time it would unexpectedly be three in the morning. Even if that wasn't true, as it was only 1:33 currently. "Alright so here's the mainframe and now I need to go to the memory and head to the counter until it deletes and then stop the timer to keep the system from . . . what the hell?"

The system shut him out, a code required to move forwards. Dick typed in every code he knew, even ones that were supposed to break the encryption through malfunction. After his fifteenth try the computer brought up a red message that read 'NICE TRY NIGHTWING, BUT YOU ARE NOW DISMISSED' before the hologram closed itself and wouldn't allow the man to bring up the cave computer again.

"What the hell is going on—"

"Master Richard," Alfred pushed Tim forwards, the boy rubbing at his eyes and still clad in his Deadpool pajamas. If this wasn't such a serious threat against him at the moment, Dick would've laughed and called out Tim's obsession with the masked mercenary (Tim always said how he wished to face him one day but all Dick could do was roll his eyes and say he wasn't real . . . he hoped).

"What's th' issue?" Tim slurred in his half asleep state, squinting his eyes to see Dick through the bright screen.

Dick looked to Alfred who stood behind Tim, "Al I was just shut out of the cave's mainframe with a message that was obviously hacked in, it said that I was dismissed, we have until three to fix the computer can you start to work on that?"

Alfred nodded, "Should I wake Bruce?"

Dick thought about his options for a moment. This seemed like more of a center attack on him and whoever was aiming for him was just used Tim and whoever else as pawns to get what they wanted. Because Dick knew Tim didn't really do it, did he? But was this serious enough to wake up Bruce?

Dick shook his head quickly, "No, no I can handle this."

"Master Richard I wouldn't advise—"

"I said I can handle it Al."

Alfred said no more as Tim looked between the two nervously, "Dick, what is going on?"

The kid seemed more awake now and the man in question sighed heavily. "Someone hacked into the cave's mainframe using your B ID. B20. It was all over anything related to the glitches. Tim I know you. You are basically my little brother so if there is something you aren't telling me—"

Tim's eyes widened to the size of saucers in disbelief at what Dick was proposing. "Dick I have nothing to do with that I'm not some traitor! After all this time and you would jump to a—"

"Tim wasn't saying that. I-I just had to make sure. I mean the team has been betrayed in the past—"

The screen crackled abruptly, Tim's face disappearing and static screeching into the nighttime hours. Dick groaned and covered his ears with his hands, the sharp clatter seemingly slicing through his eardrums. "S-Suit override c-command 223, voice identity Nightwing!"

The screeching stopped and Dick let go of his ears, moaning in relief. He was _so_ glad he added in a manual suit override in case something like that happened to his communicator. Then he heard something that sounded a lot like a wisp of air behind him and his instincts told him to move so he swiftly did a backflip out of the way. When he landed on his feet he saw four men in front of him and a piece of sharpened metal sticking out of the glass of the work building across from the one Dick was standing on.

Dick crossed his arms as he quickly evaluated the men in front of him.

Two were wielding metal pipes in their gloves hands, one held a wooden board and the last one had a short dagger in one hand. Each one had a different colored mask, the left side of all their masks were pitch black but then there was a line in the middle to spilt the colors so the color on the right was altered for each—one blue, yellow, green and red. Dick scoffed out loud, "I find it hard to believe that you four are stupid enough to be behind such an elaborate attempt at getting me."

"Let's just kill the kid, the boss just said to bring him in—he didn't say anything about keeping him alive!" The man with the black and blue mask growled, charging and raising his metal pipe in the air.

Dick waited until the last possible second before cartwheeling out of the way, the goon about to tumble off the edge of the building. He could hear the three other men gasp and he rolled his eyes, grabbing the terrified man by the back of his black jacket collar and pulling him backwards so fast that it seemed like the man got whiplash. Without second thought, though a part of him did think about just allowing the man to fall off the building even if it was against the 'no killing' code Bruce raised him by, Dick sent a punch to the man's gut which doubled him over and then an instantaneous punch to the face; knocking him out cold.

"Shit he just knocked out Captain!" The yellow mask shouted, the red masked one rolling his eyes and holding up his dagger threateningly.

"Well then let's double team him Cart and bring his dead corpse to the boss."

The yellow one charged with his wooden plank from the left while the red closed in on the right and Dick grabbed his two batons from his utility belt (he was glad he had decided to actually bring his sticks with him that day). Dick did a somersault once the two thugs got close enough and brought the sticks up when he went up; knocking each in the upper chest.

The yellow one crouched over and gasped for breath but the red one just turned around and charged into Dick, bringing them both to the ground. Dick lost one of his sticks and kept a tight hold on the one he still had—knocking his head into the thug's cranium before hitting him in the face with the stick.

Blood gushed from a newly formed cut on the man's forehead and Dick winced, that must have hurt.

As the man stumbled backwards, Dick sent a kick to his stomach and the man flew backwards into his friend; both of them tripping over the unconscious body of the third before their heads smacked the harsh ground. The fourth man in the green mask dropped his metal pipe instantly, Dick could see him basically quaking in his black spiked boots. Dick threw his stick into the air and caught it, and he could see the fearful look in the thug's eyes through the mask.

"That's all the time we have for show and fail today folks so I suggest you run before I change my mind." The thug didn't waste time in turning and running and Dick laughed loudly.

What a bunch of amateurs.

Though it didn't seem like those guys were capable of hac—

Dick's train of thought was cut off as someone grabbed his left bicep from behind and their other hand wrapped around him, a knife pressed against his throat. "We can do this the easy way, where you come with me with no issues and no one has to get hurt, or the hard way where I break a few of your bones in the process." Dick ignored the fear in his gut and put on a cocky front even if he had a feeling he would regret it later.

"Weren't you captured by the League Sportsmaster? Or did you just get lost trying to find your way back to loser city?"

Sportsmaster allowed a smirk to spill across his lips behind his grey hockey mask. He always knew this damn kid had guts, even back five years ago when he was still Robin. He knew the kid liked to glare at death when it stood before him or shove haunted phantoms out of his way to get the job done.

"You got balls kid, I'll give you that. But I suggest you cooperate so that you can make it through this alive." He hissed, his lips by Dick's ear.

He waited a moment, for that one moment when the bad guy always thought they were in control and loosened their grip for just a spilt second, before slamming his head backwards and knocking Sportsmaster off him.

Dick tumbled forwards, grabbing two batarangs (wingarangs as he liked to call them) from his belt and tossing them towards Sportsmaster, Batman's teachings of 'no killing' long forgotten as Dick watched the sharpened, flying knifes glide through the air. Sportsmaster pressed a hand to his mask, which now had a large crack towards the top, and laughed. His laughter was haunting as it grew louder and louder, and he let out a even brasher roar of mirth when one of Dick's batarangs found it's destined target and buried itself in Sportsmaster's right shoulder blade.

Dick ignored the painful throbbing in the back of his head and the smell of metallic blood floating around him so that he could quickly call Alfred. The butler answered in a matter of seconds, voice frantic and vexed. "Oh thank God you're alright, Master Richard what happ—"

"No time for fanciness Alfred, the person after me is Sportsmaster." Dick paused and looked up at the villain in front of him who was currently pulling out the sharpened metal out of his shoulder and threw it to the ground. He sent a sinful glare Dick's way.

"Oh Nightwing, you shouldn't have chosen the hard way. You'll regret it soon enough." He started walking towards Dick and he scrambled to speak quickly to Alfred and find one of his sticks to at least have a fighting chance with.

"He is probably going to take me Al so I need you to tell Bru-Batman that it is code 129 in effect. Code 129 and code 456; key word B-E-T-A. Also tell KF that he still owes me that KitKat bar he stole from me on Tuesday. I love you guys."

He dodged a punch and then a jumped over Sportsmaster's attempt at knocking his feet out from under him. He got a hit in on Sportsmaster's bum shoulder and he knew it was a dirty way of fighting but he _really_ didn't want to have to deal with the horrors the man undoubtedly had waiting for him.

"Growing slow in your old age Sporty?"

What he wasn't able to avoid was the unexpected punch to the gut and the flip afterwards. Dick landed on his back, the breath knocked from his lungs and all Alfred could do was watch helplessly. The young adult wheezed, struggling to stand up but failing miserly as Sportsmaster sent a punitive slap to his cheek and then picked him up by the front of his suit. Dick sent the best glower he could create at Sportsmaster, one that was close to Batman's scowl actually, and the blonde haired man simply chuckled.

"Don't you ever know when to stop fighting boy?" Dick stayed silent for a moment and Sportsmaster believed he had finally scared the kid into silence, until a huge wad of saliva landed in his face. He didn't flinch and Dick tried to keep his shock hidden, knowing he probably just signed his own death warrant. Everything was silent for a minute, the only thing disrupting it was Dick's panting every few seconds.

Then Sportsmaster threw Dick to the ground and kicked him hard in the ribs, even getting a stomp in on his face. His felt an aching behind his left eye and a shrill soreness near his jaw. Dick tried to squirm out of the way but had little luck as a lucky shot from the man above him nailed him in his spine.

He groaned and his ears went fuzzy, he could hear Alfred's voice muffled from someplace.

The last thing he saw was Sportsmaster's grey mask in his face and his hand caressing his cheek. "Didn't you see my message Nightwing? You are dismissed from duty, or at least you will be once and for all when I'm done with you." The next thing he knew Sportsmaster was tearing out Dick's suit tracker and ripping out the wires to his communicator.

Then the man stood up, seemingly towering over Dick, sending a powerful kick to Dick's face and the supposed hero of the night was rapidly bounded by darkness.

* * *

i sew myself shut

* * *

The phone unexpectedly rung which shattered the perfect moment between Wally and Artemis and he groaned lowly when she detached her lips from his. She pulled her tank top back down, running a hand down his bare chest.

"Let's just ignore it," Wally muttered, grabbing his girlfriend by the hips and pulling her back onto his lap. He started to press kisses to her neck and she laughed softly in response; shoving his hands off from holding onto her.

"What if it's someone important? Like Batman?" Wally shook his head, reaching over and pushing a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"We retired from the team years ago babe," The twenty one year old mumbled, his green eyes sparkling with mischief. Artemis shook her head, standing up and walking towards the kitchen.

"Just answer the phone Baywatch, it could be Nightwing asking for a favor or something. Wouldn't want to ignore your best friend right?" The twenty year old answered, grabbing a pan from one of the cabinets of their apartment and placing it on the stove.

Wally let out a loud whine, "What does a guy have to do to get some alone time with his woman?"

Artemis rolled her eyes from the kitchen as Wally gradually stood up and moved like molasses over to the phone. "Your 'alone time' was going to get interrupted anyway. I have to make lunch."

Wally made it over to the phone just as the final ring went off, the man grabbing it and pushing the receiver up to his ear. He had no idea who would be calling around one in the afternoon on a Saturday. "Hullo?" He questioned, not caring how his words seemed uncaring and garbled.

"Flash, we have a problem." Wally became instantly alert when it was Bruce's frantic voice on the other end of the phone. He knew Bruce was never one to become nervous or weary in any way. Not when he was the fearless Batman.

"What happened?" Wally straightened up his posture, moving closer to the front door so that Artemis couldn't hear the phone call. He was afraid her father had escaped or that her sister was after her again. Why else would Bruce be calling?

"Nightwing is gone."

The man felt the world close in around him, a discourteous numbness overwhelming his gut. Dick was gone? "What do you mean Dick's gone?" Wally whispered into the phone, glancing up to make sure Artemis couldn't hear him as she continued to cook lunch.

Bruce figured Dick had told Wally of his secret identity, the two were such close friends that it was like they had been brothers their entire life. As much as he didn't like the idea of Wally knowing Dick's real name, he just pushed it away. The kid wasn't a clone of him, he was allowed to have different feelings about being a superhero than Bruce. The older man had taught him everything he knew.

Wally could hear a sigh come from Bruce on the other end after a minute or two, "What I mean is that we have to get the team back together because Dick has been kidnapped."

The world stopped spinning for Wally, as he felt his mouth moving without permission.

"Artemis and I will be at the cave in ten."

A part of him heard Bruce respond about M'gann, Conner and Kaldur meeting the two there but it was stifled in his mind. The next thing he knew he was picking up his black shirt from the side of the couch, throwing it over his defined body and grabbing his jacket off the coat rack along with Artemis'.

"Wally? What's going on?" He just hit the power button on the stove and grabbed his girlfriend's arm; dragging her towards the door.

"It's Nightwing. He's been captured. I told Batman we would be at the cave in ten."

Artemis got a determined look in her eyes, Dick was like the little brother she never had.

"We can make it there in five."

* * *

my weakness is

* * *

The team barely had time to say hello to each other after not seeing one another for so long, but they were too worried about Dick to really do anything else.

Wally had given M'gann a tight friendly hug as soon as he walked in and saw the dried tear trails on her flushed green cheeks. Kaldur gave Artemis a quick hug and then Conner patted her awkwardly on the shoulder (the one thing he still didn't fully understand was human comfort).

After the short greetings were passed, the team turned to a distraught looking Batman who already had the final video footage of Dick before he was taken up on the holographic computer.

He didn't say anything, instead waiting until all of the teens' attention was directed at the board before hitting play. After the video finished; M'gann had new tears leaking out of her eyes, Artemis was quietly swearing her father out under her breath, Kaldur had to keep taking deep breaths to calm himself, Conner's rage was at its peak and Wally's hands were balled into fists.

"This is the last contact we've had with Nightwing, the video feed and his suit tracker both cut out at 2:18 in the morning." Batman stated hoarsely, tapping a few more letters on the keyboard which brought up Nightwing's standard picture and apartment location. Where his name, date of birth, origins and the rest of his info was blocked out by was looked like a black line. "Nightwing is estimated to have left the cave around 12:57 last night and then proceeded to go through the zeta beam but ended up re-routed to Gotham City instead of where his apartment is in Blüdhaven."

"Didn't you fix that weeks ago?" Artemis questioned, to which Batman sourly nodded to.

"Yes. Nightwing noticed the change and contacted me so I looked it up and it turns out someone—"

"Sportsmaster." Wally growled as the man's face came up on the computer, hitting his fists against the wall.

"—used Robin's B20 ID to hack into the cave's computer mainframe and made the tube transport Nightwing to Gotham City for that night only. He thought ahead and tried to make the system wipe it's own memory but I stopped it before that could happen."

Batman knew he couldn't say Alfred but it seemed as if Wally read his mind and knew the truth (simply because Wally knew someone like Alfred would be up at whatever time to help any of the Wayne family).

Artemis let out a shaky breath and placed a hand on Wally's shoulder, her boyfriend tensing up at the impulsive touch. "What do the codes 129 and 456 mean?" Conner asked, Batman running a hand down his cowl in a feeble attempt to rub at his eyes and stay awake (he had gotten up as soon as Alfred woke him and hadn't gone back to sleep yet, but he wasn't going to rest until he found his adopted son).

"B-E-T-A is code for 'urgent alert, priority one' while 129 means a code red—identity possibly known along with a side note to not come after him. 456 is an order for who can run the team in his place, this team, and is Kid Flash's certain code."

The entire team looked to Wally and he felt his cheeks go cherry.

Dick choose him?

Over Kaldur?

"Di-Nightwing choose me to lead?"

Wally thinks Batman actually sends him a smile but doesn't look into it. He's probably loopy from no sleep. "Yes. I'm breaking you into two teams. Team One will consist of Aqualad, Superboy and Miss Martian and you three will head to Nightwing's last known location and look for clues. Team Two will have Kid Flash and Artemis, you two will head to Nightwing's apartment and see if there is anything there that will lead us to something."

Everyone nodded and started to move out, Batman grabbing Wally softly by the shoulder before the man could exit.

"We have to find him Kid."

He sent Bruce a small smile. "We will."

Wally just hoped his words weren't lies.

* * *

that i care too much

* * *

Every part of him was in mountains of suffering. That's the only damn way he could describe it.

His heart was throbbing disturbingly, rushed little thump, thumps barreling through his body.

His chest felt like it was on fire but also frozen in ice at the same time.

A wave of discomfort would hit him from the right side of his ribcage every time he breathed.

He started to lose consciousness after a few minutes of the repeating troubles and Dick welcomed it gratefully.

Sleep was painless.

Sportsmaster stood up from the wooden stool he was sitting on after watching the hanging man for a moment, happy about how he finally got the kid to shut up. The whole time all he did was yap snarky comments Sportsmaster's way and the older man was sick of it ("Hey Sporty, can I go home yet? I think it's past my bedtime.", "Is that the worse you can do? My dead grandmother is rolling in her grave.", "You aren't gettin' shit from me Sporty." and let's not forget the cocky comments every time Sportsmaster left and came back—"Hiya Sports, did you finally give up? Tired yet?").

So he gave the boy a lesson in listening, a lesson in respecting his elders.

Dick hadn't spoken one word since the most recent beating from the man, which resulted in a large slice in his side, and Sportsmaster was enjoying the fresh stillness. He saw Dick's eyes flutter close from behind his mask and gained a malicious grin. "Oh no, no, no kid. No sleeping allowed. No pain, no gain right boy?"

He walked over to his medical table next to Dick and grabbed an adrenaline needle, roughly grabbing Dick's left arm and forcefully stabbing the needle point into the inside of his elbow. It took less than a millisecond for the drugs to kick in a wake Dick up, the man breathing heavily as he was shaken from his peaceful sleep.

Dick gained his focus and glared at Sportsmaster through his domino mask, shaking the chains wrapped around his wrists to try and break free—the veins in his arms grew bold at the trying movement; his chest muscles flexing hopelessly.

Sportsmaster grabbed a carving knife off the table next to him and got directly in Dick's face, grabbing the boy's chin and forcing him to look the man straight in the eye.

"What, no smartass remarks kid? Damn I was just getting used to your _bubbling_ personally." He let go of Dick's chin to slap him in the face bitterly. Dick made no sound and Sportsmaster chuckled. "Well then _hero_ , tell me the names and all of this will stop. Who's Batman? Superman? Flash?" Dick didn't move and held in the wince trying to break out as Sportsmaster started to press the knife's tip into his left bicep. "How about Wonder Woman? Or Captain Marvel? Oh! I know, what about that little running brat . . . Kid Flash?"

Dick snapped to attention at the mention of Wally's name and tried to move again.

"Don't you touch him. Don't you dare try to go near him." Dick whispered and it would've been menacing to anyone else.

"Didn't I teach you a lesson about talking Nightwing? I guess another punishment is in order." The next thing Dick knew, the knife was carving into his arm and he could only scream loudly because of the excruciating agony.

Sportsmaster's amusement drowned out Dick's screams after a while.

* * *

and my scars remind me that the past is real

* * *

"There's nothing here!" M'gann cried out desperately, throwing her arms up and yelling out in frustration. Kaldur sighed and looked over to Conner who simply shrugged and moved towards M'gann carefully. "We aren't going to find him." She muttered once Conner was close enough to her and he simply tugged the woman into a hug.

"We are going to find him. Over my dead body." Conner answered, and Kaldur eyed the dried blood they saw on the rooftop earlier wearily.

M'gann nodded into Conner's shoulder before he pulled away and looked around the area one last time.

"Maybe Flash and Artemis have found a lead, for that is all we can hope for." Kaldur said, eyeing his two other teammates cautiously.

M'gann sniffled once more before the night went noiseless again.

* * *

i tear my heart open just to feel

* * *

Dick was breathing severely, gasping for air urgently because every breath he took felt like he got nothing. Sportsmaster stared greedily at the blood now coating the floor and the knife that rested back on the mini table.

"Whenever you think you are something Nightwing, just glance at your arm and remind yourself of what you really are. Little piece of shit—"

The door across the room opened surprisingly, a man dressed in a gleaming white scientist coat walking towards the two. He had grey hair that spiked up all over his head, his eyes ablaze with the need to experiment on something. He reminded Dick of the movie Psycho for some reason. He looked at Sportsmaster and then to Dick, seemingly to inspect his body for something he was looking for.

"Did you make the cut?"

Dick could see Sportsmaster roll his eyes behind him. "It's on his right side. Should be ready for your work."

The scientist moved over to look at the grotesque gash and Dick felt sick to his stomach when he saw the odd, crazed look eloping the man's eyes. "It's perfect. You did great Mister Crock, I will give you your payment once I am done with this young soul. Please stand guard for me outside the door."

Sportsmaster turned to leave, "If he dares to speak just try your hand with some of the knifes next to you. Though I don't think he will because as you can see, his last punishment is still lingering."

"Thank you for the tips Mister Crock."

The scientist waited until Sportsmaster left the room and slammed the door behind him before turning to Dick and reaching for his mask. Dick's eyes widened and he tried to do something, anything to prevent the unavoidable from happening. "N-No, please. I'll do anything."

He didn't want to put his friends in danger.

He couldn't.

The man chortled, "Sorry my dear boy, work is work." He pulled of Dick's mask and didn't seem surprised, it was like he already knew who Dick was before unveiling his mask. Next the man pulled the wooden stool over to Dick and where his gash was, taking a few knifes off the table beside him. "Let's see how pure you are shall we my dear Richard?"

Dick's shrieks actually caused Sportsmaster to wince slightly from outside the room.

* * *

i saw you going down

* * *

Things just weren't adding up.

Dick put him in charge of the team, even with his hotheadedness and quirky temper. Then out of all of the things he could've said he wanted Alfred to tell Wally that he owed Dick for the candy bar he stole out of Dick's apartment the week before.

What was he missing?

There had to be a clue somewhere.

Wally scanned Dick's apartment bedroom and he could hear Artemis' light footfalls slowly moving around the roof on lookout. The speedster wandered over to where Dick's kitchen was, chuckling to himself at the mess, and opened up the top left cabinet where the hero hid his candy at whenever Wally came over. The only thing out of place that Wally saw was that Dick was running low on candy bars and rolled his eyes at the irony.

He reached his hand in and grabbed for the Twix bar in the back left corner, pulling it out and subconsciously already trying to undo the wrapper.

But when he didn't feel the brass of a wrapper on his fingers, he looked down and saw none other than a black, square little GPS staring him vacantly back in the face.

He ran his finger across the top of the GPS, feeling a small button on the end. He clicked it and the screen came to life, showing a digital 3D globe of the world. He nearly dropped the damn thing when a woman's voice spoke to him through the tracker.

"Place state the last and first name of the person you wish to track."

Wally wanted to make sure the thing worked first so he tried the stupidest track of a person of all time. "Find West, Wally."

"Calculating."

The globe zoomed in and in until it showed an above head view of Dick's apartment. Big, bold and blocky font letters filled across the top of the screen. "Wallace West is currently in the outskirts of Gotham City; in a small town called Blüdhaven. Sixteenth Street Apartment Complex, apartment number 171. Apartment number 171 is owned by Richard Grayson."

Wally stared in shock at the device in his hand, until he knocked himself out of his stupor and laughed quietly. "Damn it Dick, you are always one step ahead of everybody aren't you buddy?" He murmured to no one in particular, "Find Grayson, Dick."

"Calculating."

As the GPS went to work on finding Dick, Wally reached up and grabbed a Snickers bar, closing the cabinet and loading the candy bar into the snack storage in his suit.

"Richard Grayson is currently in Gotham City. The street address is Thirty-Fourth Avenue, in an abandoned medical lab. The lab is owned by Lawrence Crock."

Wally didn't waste a moment in sending the coordinates to the rest of the team and then quickly walked out the unlocked door (Dick didn't lock it anymore considering every time he used to Wally would lose his key and object about Dick locking the door on purpose when he never was) to meet Artemis outside and hurry to the labs.

Wally just hoped Dick was still in one piece.

* * *

but you never realized

* * *

"Are you sure this is the place Wally?" He nodded at Kaldur's question, pointing to the map located on the GPS he was carrying. The team walked up to the front door and tried to open it, shocked when it did in fact open.

They walked inside judiciously, "Stay close to me." Wally murmured to Artemis who smiled at his protective tone of voice.

"Team to Batman, we found the building. Entering now—"

"Aqualad watch out!" M'gann screamed telepathically as Sportsmaster jumped down from the ceiling and towards Kaldur. He rolled out of the way just in time and Conner came up from behind Sportsmaster but failed in punching him as the man turned around and dodged easily.

He saw his daughter hidden behind Wally's puffed up body and laughed childishly.

"Coming to save your friend baby girl? I'm afraid it's a little too late for that."

"Where is Nightwing?" She shouted, throwing as much bravery as she could into her tone. Sportsmaster smirked behind his hockey mask, Wally sending him a scowl.

"Basement 2C. Room 52. He's good as dead anyway. Besides, I told the kid Flash here would be next." Artemis turned to Wally as Kaldur used his water whips to flip Sportsmaster onto his back.

"Go!"

Wally looked unsure, "Artemis I'm not going to leave you babe,"

She shoved him towards the stairs, "Go get Nightwing. I'll be fine!"

With a final glace to his girlfriend he speed off towards the stairs.

* * *

that you're drowning in the water

* * *

"Basement 2C. Room 52." Wally muttered to himself in a repeating fashion as he zoomed down the staircase, quickly glancing at each sign he passed. He skidded to a stop as he saw the sign for the secluded part of the basement he was looking for. After trying the knob and finding the door be locked, he kicked it open—not caring who heard him.

Right now his main priority was finding his little brother.

He slowly started to walk down the hallway, straining his ears for any hasty reverberations. The neon lights flickered with each explosion that came from above and he could've swore he saw something move from the corner of his eye. He shook off the feeling of being watched as he approached the end of the hallway; worry filling his gut.

"52! Oh thank God,"

Wally didn't have too much time to think anymore because he heard a loud grunt behind him and turned around just in time to avoid a metal pipe from jamming into his skull. The man that tried to attack Wally looked like he was from one of the many crazy scientist movies Wally had watched; his white lab coat was ripped in several places. Blood was gushing from a large gash below his chin, his green eyes chilled Wally to the very core.

"Ah Kid Flash. Coming to save your friend? I'm so sorry to have to tell you the news but though Nightwing put up a good fight and got a few good hits on me, as you can see, but he is no longer with us." The scientist lifted a hand up to wipe the blood off his neck, chuckling to himself as Wally stood frozen in front of him. "I have to say it's a valiant effort; tracking the boy down and then trying to sneak in here to save him. I applaud you Wallace."

Wally's stomach dropped to his knees.

His wrath disappeared as a new fear overtook him, because Dick would never give up his identity. He knew that, he believed that. He just wouldn't. "What did you just say?" Wally was proud of how sturdy his voice came out, rivaling the true feeling of terror immersing him.

"Oh don't play dumb Kid. I know who you are and the people closest to you. Richard was very helpful in filling me in. He was acting difficult at first but after a few screams he gave up. As you all do." Wally hated how calmly the man talked, like as if he had everything planned out from the start—like as if he was safe from everything.

As if he had known Dick and Wally for a while.

As atrocious as Wally felt about the man knowing his name; he was more concerned about Dick at the moment. So the next thing he knew, he had the man pinned against the polished greying wall in front of him, blood from the older man's cut splattering over the walls from the unforeseen speed.

"Where. Is. He."

The man smirked scandalously, "With his parents by now I would think. Such a shame I couldn't make his death more like theirs. It would've been _so_ poetic."

Wally growled lowly, letting out a snarl that could rival Wolf's. He pushed on the man's throat, "Tell me where he is right now or else it won't be just your blood on the walls." If his words weren't enough, Wally sent a ferocious punch to the man's stomach to hint towards more; causing the scientist to cringe and choke out a strangled laugh.

"My dear boy, didn't you hear what he told you upstairs? Room 52. But I would—"

"Stop lying to me." Wally's grip around the man's throat tightened slowly as his patience ran thin. The man looked unamused, he actually seemed mad that Wally had cut him off. But the speedster didn't care. He needed to find his baby bro. "Tell me where the hell Nightwing is!" He shouted, the man simply staring at the boy in front of him. He said nothing.

Wally waited a few seconds and then yelled in anger, sending a well-aimed punch to the man's face; dropping his limp body and turning towards the final door at the end of the hall.

He entered the room and felt physically sick at what he saw.

The room was a small, square box with darkened black walls and a strong smell of piss and burnt skin. Two simple lights hung from the ceiling, shadowing a figure hanging by their hands on the far wall. Wally started to walk towards the body, a churning feeling appearing in his gut. Bile was crawling it's way up his throat, the smell of freshly burnt skin nearly causing him to gag.

"No," he muttered to himself as he got closer. But nothing prepared him for what he saw when he got to the young adult, and he had to use every part of his brain to stop himself from getting sick at the sight.

Dick was hanging by his arms—the chains that were draped around his wrists the only things holding him up. His head was lolled forward against his chest, matted black hair hiding his eyes and the rest of his face. Wally quickly took in the rest of his friend's injuries before moving forward and starting to work, attempting to unchain his left hand first. Dick's Nightwing suit had been torn in half, leaving his torso bare but his bottom half still clothed.

His slim muscled chest was covered in lacerations, burn marks and knife cuts. Wally was mainly concerned about the huge gash resting on his right side, it was angled like as if someone had tried to cut into him like a pig for slaughter.

A part of Wally didn't want to dare look at the marks covering his arms but did anyway, seeing more cuts and scratches.

The biggest and most sickening injury so far was what was on the inside of Dick's left bicep. Wally knew that it was a brand or carving of some sort but he couldn't get a good enough look to see what that words said. He opted not looking at it, knowing he needed his head in one place.

There was needle marks on the inside of Dick's left elbow and Wally felt dizzy just from thinking about what they did to his best friend.

He cussed lowly when he couldn't get the chains off, moving over and feeling Dick's neck for a pulse. He felt a faint thump, thump under his fingers and nearly sighed in relief. That's when Wally noticed that Dick's mask wasn't covering his face, and he shook his head in disbelief. He turned and looked around the room but saw no sign of his friend's mask and that's when he heard the footsteps of the rest of the team approaching.

He let go of Dick reluctantly, because he knew that he needed to find something to use as a makeshift mask, Wally knew how important it was to Dick that no one found out his true identity.

He knew that Dick didn't want to put anybody in alacritous danger, with how many times he had been kidnapped as Robin back in the day because of Batman to be used as leverage.

Or how many times he had been kidnapped as Richard Grayson to be used as leverage against Bruce Wayne.

Wally understood where his best friend was coming from, Dick figured he was too high of a risk as it was and if anyone knew his civilian ID He feared they would be next to be kidnapped and tortured (but he did tell Wally on his own account, no underage drinking needed to coax it out of him on Wally's part).

"What can I use . . . damn it Wally think!" He lowly whispered angrily to himself.

The only thing that could come to mind was a blindfold by ripping off some of his own suit. He didn't want to do that but he could hear the buzzing in the far depths of his mind as the team's telepathic link came back into play because they were closer now and getting closer as the minutes passed.

Wally turned to his left arm and carefully ripped off a strip of his yellow suit in as thin as a line as he could; he didn't want to scare Dick anymore then he would be if he woke up.

Wally reached up and gently tied the blindfold around Dick's eyes, being mindful of the bruises and small cuts lining his face, and just as he tied a knot around the back of Dick's head Artemis' voice reached him in a small shout.

"Wally!" He flipped around just in time for her to crash into him in a hug, wrapping her arms right around his back. He returned the hug, holding her as close to him as he could. He saw just Conner enter the room after a moment and his collective shock once they saw Dick hanging behind Wally. M'gann and Kaldur were upstairs, loading Sportsmaster onto the bio-ship.

"Conner," he turned toward Wally at the sound of his defeated voice. "Can you get the chains off him? I-I tried but they just wouldn't come off." Conner nodded and moved slowly towards Dick, like as if he was a piece of china your parents scolded you for even going near.

Wally felt his girlfriend's tears damp his shirt and he chuckled softly, pressing a kiss to her hair. "When you just ran off to go and find Nightwing I was terrified; even if I did tell you to go. We were all too busy fighting m-my dad to use the link and—"

She choked on a sob and Wally shushed her gently.

"It's okay babe, I'm right here. See? No blood, no broken bones."

She pulled away from him; punching him lightly in the shoulder, "You got lucky this time Baywatch."

He cracked a grin at his 'nickname' and was about to say something back when Dick screamed from behind them.

* * *

so i offered you my hand

* * *

"Why the hell is there a blindfold on him? Take it off!" Conner shouted but Wally shook his head as he helped hold Dick down on the ground so he wouldn't worsen his injuries more.

"No we can't! His mask is missing."

Artemis struggled with holding down Dick's right arm while Conner easily held down his left, Wally fraught with holding the rest of his body down. "What the hell does that matter? He knows all of our secret identities so why is he still hiding his?"

Wally knew it was more of a question directed at him but he also knew it wasn't his decision to make about if the rest of the team was allowed to know Dick's civilian ID. An idea hit him and he let go of Dick quickly.

"Let go of him and leave the room for a second you guys. I have an idea."

"Wally he's unstable and he's just as strong—if not stronger—than you now." Artemis argued, but Wally shook his head.

"Just give me a few minutes with him. Secure Sportsmaster and then come back."

Conner and Artemis still disagreed with Wally's irrational idea but they knew Wally wasn't going to budge. The two stood up and Wally waited until the door shut to swiftly reach over to Dick and ripped off the blindfold covering his eyes.

* * *

compassions in my nature

* * *

"Dick, it's okay. You're safe now."

Dick slowly opened his eyes at his friend's voice, freezing in place and just staring.

Was this real?

Was he saved?

"It's alright buddy." Wally held up his hands, "See? No weapons, no tricks. It's me."

Wally moved closer to Dick and then without any warning Dick reached up and hugged Wally, his arms clinging onto the man like a lifeline. Wally sighed, patting Dick's back. "It's okay Dick, I gottca. Sportsmaster is going to go away for a long time."

Wally could hear his wheezing breaths, the sticky sound of clogged tears. "You went and g-got more candy f-from my apartment d-didn't you? You g-got the message? 'Bout the d-damn KitKat bar?"

Wally blinked away the glassy feeling in his eyes. "Yeah bud. I got the message. I got the message about the damn KitKat bar. Where in the hell did you get that GPS from?"

Dick chuckled weakly, the tiniest of smiles appearing on his face.

He pulled back from the hug enough so that his voice wasn't muffled anymore. "I'm so whelmed by you sometimes KF, y-you can be s-such an idiot. I'm h-held captive and y-your and pickin' out candy for yourself."

Wally scoffed, "I'm the one that just saved your ass, what are you talking about?"

Dick let go of Wally and that smile was still there.

He was safe. He would be home and safe soon.

"Wally?"

"Yeah Dick?"

"You o-owe me a buck and thirty eight cents for the KitKat bar."

* * *

tonight is our last stand

* * *

They never learn the name of the scientist, he's long gone when Wally exits with Dick; his blood left behind. Batman and Alfred run countless checks in the world database to look for him but nothing ever comes up, even with Superman and The Flash flying and running all across the world for the man.

* * *

but at least i can say i tried

* * *

He heals.

It's slow and he gets tired easily and he won't be able to watch over Blüdhaven for a while.

Not until he's healed completely, which might not ever happen.

But Wally and Artemis volunteer to watch over Blüdhaven and when they do three weeks after he's rescued—Dick cracks the first joke in a while. He says they can stay in his apartment but if he catches Wally raiding his candy cabinet or them doing it on his brand new couch he claims that he's going to kick Wally's ass.

The redhead believes him and instead when Artemis and he get into heated situations they go in his room and Wally hopes Dick never finds out what happens on his bed.

Five weeks after his rescue Bruce randomly comes in and pulls Dick into a tight hug, saying how sorry he is for pushing him so hard and not being able to find him faster. They stay looked in the hug for a while and when Alfred walks in after grabbing a glass of water from the kitchen in the cave he sets the glass down and Bruce moves so that Dick can tell good ol' Al that it isn't his fault.

They are a broken bat family but Dick wouldn't want anything else.

Three months in he tells Wally that Artemis can know his civilian ID.

She punches him the next chance she gets for the selfie he took of them on the first day of school all of those years ago.

It takes a few months before Dick can watch over his city again and he doesn't want to be alone quite yet so he asks Artemis and Wally to stay with him for a while longer and they just hug him. Family always, right?

Dick does well and doesn't have any setbacks until around two months later when he thinks everyone is asleep and gets an early morning shower before going out as Nightwing. The clock strikes four in the morning as Dick walks out clad in just a towel and sees Wally leaning against the counter in the kitchen, half asleep.

When his glazed over eyes finally are able to read the words forever scared on the inside of Dick's left arm he doesn't know to say something or not. Dick just tells him it's alright and the next day he customizes his Nightwing suit so that the inside of his arms aren't covered by black anymore and instead show off his pale arms—instead show off his scar from Sportsmaster.

It helps him heal in a strange way but when Bruce sees it he gives a classic Batman frown to his son, Wally pats him on the back, Artemis hugs him tightly and says sorry, M'gann gives him a shy smile and then says 'thanks for being the bravest out of all of us', Conner gives him a hard look at first but then a short smile slips across his lips and Kaldur understands.

And Dick's okay with all of that.

Because they are his family and he is the superhero who is still broken at times but kicks ass the same way he did when he was younger.

* * *

and i left my heart open

* * *

"Did you complete the test you wanted to get done sir?" The man shakes his head with a hefty sigh, running his hands down his face. His long fingernails leave behind red marks when he let them fall from his face.

"No. Grayson go away before we got that far. Should've just kidnapped that Wally kid, then I could've gotten my answers twice as fast."

* * *

but you didn't understand

* * *

"Kidnapping a super would've been way too dangerous sir."

The man scoffs, "Richard was dangerous but I fared perfectly well Father!" His immediate shout started the older man sitting across from his son; his blue eyes flaring hauntingly.

"Son," The father tried, his worrisome eyes reluctantly glancing at the dried blood slashed across his son's neck like a rope waiting to be hung.

"I don't need permission from you Father. Aren't we in this together?"

The father's face twisted into something unrecognizable, something of a hesitant emotion.

His son noticed and stood up, walking over to the large window across the room. He crossed his hands behind his back, "We _are_ in this together aren't we?" He whispered, closing his orbs for a moment.

* * *

go fix yourself

* * *

"Sir," his father gulped soundlessly, wishing he was back in the times when his son was young and carefree and didn't threaten him or make him call him 'sir'; "hiring a mercenary and giving him a payment that will never be used because he got caught, kidnapping people who are basically still children, wanting to kidnap a speedster—you are still thriving after a cure that is impossible to find!"

The son watched the rain puddle outside the window, heard the thunder boom in the sky, and chuckled at the lightening darting across the sky. "Father," the man in question held his breath as his son took off his scientist coat—which was filled with dried crimson and torn in so many damn places—and threw it across the room, "I will never stop looking for a cure. Richard Grayson was supposed to be the key to it all and now I have _nothing_. Nothing to show as my work."

The structure they were in shook the next time a loud roar of thunder boomed and the scientist gently rested his hand on the frigid glass of the window.

"There are better ways to go about this son. Normal ways. Safe ways."

"The only issue Dad, is that I'm not normal."

He avoided looking at his reflection in the window, not wanting to see himself.

He didn't want to give himself more scars.

It was always better when he took out his rage through someone else.


	2. two

_**This**_ **chapter contains:**

Spoilers: An episode from Season 1 and general Season 2

Random Lyrics from: To Be Loved by Papa Roach

Pairings: Spitfire, Dick and Artemis brotherly/sisterly friendship, Some DaddyBats and DaddyFlash

Extra Notes: Thank you all so much for the favorites, follows and reviews. :)

 _This_ chapter is **rated teen for** a trigger topic (PTSD), some depression, mild violence, scenes of torture, romance pieces and a good amount of crude language.

* * *

this is real, as real as it gets

* * *

Dick snickered to himself once he heard the bathroom door shut behind Artemis, as Wally slandered into the apartment's small kitchen. The first place the speedster headed to was the fridge, grabbing the carton of milk before closing the fridge and taking a seat next to Dick at the island, looking through half lidded eyes at his friend.

"Good morning," Dick chirped, knowing full well that Wally wasn't a morning person while continuing to send careful glances towards the closed bathroom door, patiently waiting for the shower to start and for Artemis to run out in a fit of fiery rage. He swallowed another spoonful of Cheerios, turning towards Wally when the older man groaned loudly. "Well you had to get up sometime, be happy I didn't wake you up at two in the morning when I went out as Nightwing."

Wally grunted in reply, lifting the milk carton to his lips and chugging. Dick went back to eating his cereal but before he had a chance to lift the spoon to his lips Wally was throwing the empty milk carton in the trash and moving towards the candy cabinet. "It's ten in the morning and you are going to raid my candy supply already?" Wally grabbed two Snickers bars, tearing the wrappers off both and eating them faster than Dick could blink.

"Half of it is my food anyway, I do live here." He grumbled and as if on cue the bathroom door slammed open; causing both boys to flinch.

Artemis entered the kitchen, her deadly glower pointed at Dick. He jumped out of his seat, holding up his hands in surrender, "Hiya Art . . . how was your shower?" She didn't say anything in response, instead storming right up to the man soundlessly. Dick chuckled weakly, "Alright listen I've been through a lot—"

He cut himself off when Artemis suddenly started sending punches to his shoulders and chest, Dick trying to shield himself from her lousy hits. Wally watched lazily from his spot where he was leaning against the counter, nibbling a left over piece of grilled cheese from the night before.

"You are such an asshole Dick! Jacking the shower to spray ice cold water instead of hot?" Dick laughed, grabbing the woman by her wrists to stop her from counting to throw punches his way, Artemis sending him a substantial glare. Dick towered slightly above her, a smirk similar to the ones he used to always have when he was Robin present on his features. "Damn it Dick, I'm going to kill you one of these days." She mumbled, Wally snorting behind them.

Dick grinned in response, "I'm pretty sure you are gonna kill Wally over here way before you even get close to murdering me."

"Not cool dude," Wally griped as he finished up his food and shuffled over to the living room couch, taking a seat next to Brucely and flipping on the television set. Artemis shoved Dick's hands off her, moving over towards the fridge and opening it.

"Go fix the damn shower Dick,"

The man laughed with a short nod, heading towards the bathroom and closing the door behind him. In a matter of moments the shower was up and running again, Dick stripping off his clothes and jumping in.

It had been five weeks since that faithful night where Wally had saw the word forever scarred into his skin and the older man had promised that he wouldn't tell anyone what the word was or how bold it still stood against his pale skin. Wally had unhappily agreed, but Dick found that it wasn't even needed as the rest of their friends saw the word sometime or another during their last team meeting.

Wally and Artemis still stayed with Dick in his apartment just because Wally still wasn't too sure if his friend was okay. Dick had told him time and time again he was fine but Wally had an inner gut feeling that he wasn't speaking the truth so the two stayed (Artemis felt that something was off with her friend too).

The apartment was a good size; with two bedrooms, a bathroom, small kitchen with an island in the middle, living room and one walk in hallway closet. The walls were painted a sloppy sapphire gooey color from obvious neglect from the last owner of the place while the ceilings of each room was a glistening white. Dick had the master bedroom (blissfully unaware of what had been happening in there while he was still recovering) while Wally and Artemis shared the queen sized bed in the guest bedroom.

It was congested at times and seemingly trifling when more than five people were there at one time but the three wouldn't want to have anything else.

Wally and Artemis were in gratifying contentment as their relationship seemed to have only gotten better, Dick and Wally were brothers in and out of the field, while Dick and Artemis were like the bickering siblings in every household (though the two would _never_ admit that they did love one another like brother and sister would).

Everything was going good.

The only thing that was bothering Dick was the fact that the damned scientist who had tried to cut into him like meat was never found and the fact unnerved him.

At night he still wasn't able to get the man's all-knowing eyes out of his brain or the revolting, immoral look of his irises seemingly taking in Dick's body like a meal—like a prize of some sort. The way the man handled the knife he was using, the precise presentation that could only come from years of practice; maybe the man was one of those 48-Hour Serial Murder Cases that had never been caught, like the ones shown on television.

On top of that, how the man acted was disturbing—as he made his way in trying to _literally_ dissect Dick—he would stammer to himself here and there, like as if he was talking to another person in the room. At times he would turn around and screech at the bare air behind him and Dick felt like that was the true torment; not knowing what was to happen next or who would abruptly meander in from the doorway.

Not knowing was just bloodcurdling, there was no other way to describe it.

Dick sighed as he turned off the shower, exiting and drying himself off with a towel. He wrapped the towel around his lower half and stared at his stale self in the mirror; reaching up and wiping away some of the steam off the heated glass with his hand.

His azure colored eyes were better now with no red decorating the rims, his cheekbones were no longer hallowed out from not eating, most of the bruising from before gone from his face with only some yellowish dots here and there, his black hair was damp but laid flat on his head—no longer riddled with spit and bloodshed, and Dick actually could pretend that he was back to normal; back to how he was before getting kidnapped.

But he wasn't going to lie to himself, because the truth was that he would never be better because life just didn't work that way.

Next his eyes looked down from his face, inspecting his well-developed chest. From determination of not wanting to be caught off guard again Dick had stepped up his game and had started going to the gym a few times each week with Wally to buff himself out a little more and that was shown broadly in his torso and arms. There was a faint trace of the start to more defined muscles in his abdomen, his arms had free flowing veins that moved boldly with little use of strength, hands calloused with the use of sleepless nights catching thugs in the bitter nighttime hours.

Dick hated his chest sometimes.

It wasn't because of his lean form or anything (even if he had matured much since he was thirteen) but it was the scars that always found a way into his mind—jeering and arrogant and screaming at him.

The gash on his right side was stitched up but a thick tender line still stood there brazenly, the needle marks on the inside of his left elbow were like dark spots on Dick's pale skin, a big knife cut from Sportsmaster still loomed near the bottom of his stomach and all of the other small inflamed splotches and sore parts of skin gawked at him from the mirror and he got a prickling feeling in his gut—one where he just wanted to send a punch to the glass in front of him and shatter it.

A soft knock on the door jolted him out of his thoughts and he cleared his throat, "Yeah?"

"Hey dude, you've been in there a while—are you okay?" Wally's nervous voice came from the other side of the door and Dick couldn't help but smile at his broken reflection in the mirror.

"Yeah dude I'm fine. I'll be out soon."

He waited for Wally's footsteps to disappear down the hallway before making sure his towel was firmly secured around his waist and walking out. He made it halfway to his room—he could see the ajar door in his vision—but instead someone walked into him.

"Shit, Wally watch where—"

Artemis froze when she looked up and saw that she hadn't walked into Wally but instead had slammed into Dick, who was trying to cover his scar-maimed body from view. Dick was proud of how his body was now but he was also self-conscious about it with all of the marks and pink blemishes so he had gotten rid of any tank tops he owned (he left a brown box in the bottom of Wally's closet one day labeled 'old tank tops, all yours' and Artemis held Wally tight in her arms that night as he felt agony for not being able to rescue his buddy sooner) and never walked around shirtless.

Wally saw him that one night and then Dick was so paranoid that he would sneak around the house if needed to avoid either adult to see him topless. He saw Artemis' eyes stare at his chest for a moment and then the slight flash of the word on his inner arm—but before long she was looking back up into his face and her heartbroken look killed him.

"I-I um Dick, I'm—I-I didn't mean to run into you but uh I'm sorry I really d-didn't—"

"Babe did you grab the lotion yet?"

Dick looked up from the floor, cracking an uneasy smile to try and lighten the mood; and also to get the attention off him. "I don't think the lotion is going to help fix Kid Idiot over there Art, you might need something stronger."

She scrambled for something to say, stunned that Dick had even got two words out. It took all of her strength to not gape at his marked up body, she wasn't trying to but it was just _so_ outrageous for her, that her father had done something like this to a living—breathing—human. To just another simple guy in the world, one that had already experienced enough loss in his life.

One that didn't deserve anything else to happen to him.

When Artemis had found out his real name, after she punched him a few times for the picture he had framed on his living room wall next to the one of him and Wally stuffing their faces full of pizza, the first thing that came to her mind was the tragic story of The Flying Graysons.

She had heard about it all over the news and always felt bad for the kid left alive and on his own, she felt a connection with him because even if her parents were alive they were never too good of parents—her father was the devil himself.

A few more fleeting seconds passed before Artemis opened her mouth to retort to Dick's wise crack. "The lotion is just one of my _many_ feeble attempts at trying to kill him early," She joked with a snigger, hearing her boyfriend protest from the other room.

"I thought you loved me!"

She turned her head to answer him, "Whatever floats your boat babe,"

When the woman went to turn back around she was surprised to see Dick gone and his bedroom door closed, her heart deflating a little. How were they supposed to help him become himself again if he still isolated himself?

* * *

whoa i'll never give in

* * *

"Wally," She hissed, pushing Brucely out of her way so that she could sit on the couch next to Wally. The dog grunted in disapproval of being moved, shaking his fur out as he hopped off the couch and plopped down in a heap of white, fluffy fur on the dog bed resting near the flat screen television. Artemis scoffed at the dog, "Oh shut it Bruce, you aren't allowed on the couch anyway according to Dick."

"Old Dick said he didn't mind the last time I talked to him," Wally interjected, Artemis rolling her eyes. She grabbed the remote forcefully from his hand, hitting the mute button and placing it on the coffee table in front of them. Wally threw up his hands, turning towards his girlfriend. "What was that for? Bruce and I were watching the morning news."

"I just ran into Dick in the hallway."

Wally laughed, "Well that's to be expected I mean he does live here,"

Artemis placed a firm hand on his shoulder, shaking him a little bit. "Stop it Wally I'm being serious right now. I ran into Dick by accident when he got out from the shower; I saw his . . . chest."

Wally got a hard look in his eye all of a sudden, sitting up straight in his seat. "Is he okay?" Both knew how sensitive the topic was, both were concerned.

Artemis nodded her head solemnly, "Yeah, he said some jokes but I just don't know Wally I mean he seems to be okay but he's Batman's protégée—I would bet he knows how to hide things if he needs to."

Wally agreed with placid emotion, "God Artemis, do you . . . do you think Sportsmaster really screwed him over? Will be ever be, I don't know, the same?"

As a natural instinct she went rigid at the mention of her father's name and Wally noticed almost instantly, bringing her close to him and slinging an arm around her shoulders in a side hug. She rested her head on his burly chest, grateful for the warmth he always seemed to have. "Wally . . . I don't know. If someone took you against your will away from everything you know, all your friends and family and chained you up and did torturous things to you—would you ever be the same?"

Wally ran his fingers through his girlfriend's blonde hair, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts and numbers (he was a scientist at heart you know). "I wouldn't. I wouldn't be able to get past it, wouldn't be able to get it out of my mind no matter what I tried to distract it with. Human brains either bury tragic experiences with mounds of meaningless things or never forget it."

"So what has Dick done?"

Wally opens and closes his mouth like a fish out of water but no words leak out and he scrunches the bridge of his nose in thought.

Artemis takes the silence as an answer long before Wally can come up with one.

* * *

whoa i'll never give up

* * *

He's breathing heavy.

His heart is a jackhammer in his chest.

A pounding is echoing in a throb through the right side of his skull, like a second pulse.

He feels like he can't breathe.

Like he's drowning in an abyss of endless water or suffocating in a dirt grave being buried alive.

His muddled brain is trying to come up with an answer for what is happening to him, trying to piece together the science and math floating around in his mind to make a final deduction.

But it's too hard to gain air in his lungs and too hard to exhale because it feels like he is getting smothered with a heavy pillow.

The world is closing into black around him and the one thing his brain _can_ figure out is that if he doesn't get some type of oxygen to his lungs then he is going to pass out and once again be fawned over for a few extra months, possibly even years if Bruce were to hear about it. He really doesn't like the pity that follows him around after a failure, or the most recent example, the kidnapping.

At first it was because of his parent's death; whenever he wanted to just take a meek damn walk somewhere people would approach him and give him their misfortune. It was all over the news for a while, because it was such a shocking type of death scenario, it was outstanding that someone was able to pull it off on such skilled people.

He gasped quietly when the black suddenly left him after thinking about his parents and he saw that he was half collapsed on the floor and half leaning against his bed frame.

His mind still raced and his stomach was twisted in knots and his fingers were near blue from being numb but he stood anyway and went to his closet, his eyes shakily searching for some clothes to pull on.

He settled on grabbing a navy colored tee-shirt, pair of grey boxers, black sweatpants and hasty started to throw on the chosen outfit; his brain still a train wreck. The symptoms he just had were too serious to be caused by a headache or—

"Shit, Artemis, is that happening here?" Wally's shocked voice caused Dick to snap his head up and listen to what he could hear from behind his closed door.

"No, downtown Gotham. Should we call the team?" It was Artemis' muffled voice that responded as Dick pulled his tee-shirt over his head, figuring he could just figure out what had happened to him later.

He shuddered at the peculiar fact that it seemed like he just had a panic attack as he shambled out the door and headed to the living room.

* * *

and i just wanna be, wanna be loved

* * *

Dick listened carefully to the news anchor as he approached Wally and Artemis sitting cocooned in each other on the couch. He didn't like the tense tone to the news anchor's voice, considering he was a robust older man with a buzz cut to his brown hair and piercing indigo eyes that seemed to bore into your soul (ex-military maybe thought Dick), because that meant the story was alarming on its own.

"—downtown. I repeat, breaking news. There has been a break in to Gotham City's very own high tech scientific labs industry downtown, owned and cared for by groundbreaking psychology professor Jonathan Crane, who studies the effects of fear and thrives to find a cure."

Dick scoffed loudly at the false 'good image' they were trying to paint Crane as but at the same time how could he say anything? They didn't know the man was the overly-obsessive, fear-crazed Scarecrow that reigned fear toxin on petty criminals for 'experiments' by night.

Wally jumped ten feet into the air at the sudden sound of Dick's scoff behind him, turning around in a fighting stance. Dick raised an eyebrow and Artemis couldn't help but start laughing madly at her boyfriend's movements, Wally's face flushing as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I-I thought you were an intruder,"

"An intruder scoffing at the news KF?"

The speedster nodded his head, embarrassed as Dick walked around the couch, taking a seat next to Artemis on the other side. "I just found it funny that Gotham still doesn't know about Crane being the deranged, attention-seeking Scarecrow yet. I mean, his toxin speaks for itself."

Dick trembled at the memory of having to be under the influence of that once when he was twelve and fighting alongside Batman as Robin. They had just made it to Scarecrow's hideout and kicked down the door, ready to take him in and then there was a very painful prick in the back of his neck and he was surrounded by darkness and blood-soaked memories of his parents dying over and over for what seemed like hours.

It turns out, as Batman had the cure on him and just had to subdue Crane first, that Dick was only locked in the nightmarish state for five minutes. It felt like years, it wasn't pleasant.

Artemis calmed her laughter a minute, the three turning back to the breaking news in progress. "GCPD was sent there to stop the attack, but we haven't heard any updates from the station nor the police force sent to the ground. The dynamic duo isn't anywhere in sight from our helicopter cameras either." The screen switched to live footage from a police helicopter flying above the lab and Dick narrowed his eyes.

The lab looked virtually spotless, not a thing out of place and he wouldn't have any idea of a break in if not for the flashing red lights around the polished white building.

Wally looked to Dick, "Where are Batman and Robin?"

Dick didn't look away from the screen as he answered, "Out of country on a mission with the new team in Africa. They tracked traces of abnormal energy and went to investigate."

Since Dick's untimely absence, Batman took it upon himself to be the temporary leader for the new team until Dick was ready to take back the reins. He believed Bruce did it to try and make up for some of the responsibility he felt for allowing his son to get captured, even if time and time again Dick told him it wasn't his fault. If Dick was being honest, he wasn't sure if he would go back to being the team's leader (as much as Beast Boy, Gar, would be forlorn because he looked up to Dick—Nightwing—like an older brother since losing his mother).

Suddenly the footage on screen went out and the camera switched back to the very distressed looking news anchor. "Uh . . . we seem to have lost our um camera footage. Please stand by—"

Wally stood up and walked over to the television, pressing the power button with his finger as the elegant screen went dark. He turned to the two already standing up behind him, "Time to suit up?" He questioned, to which Dick nodded to.

"Meet out here in five." Wally and Artemis nodded and started to walk off towards the hallway, Dick not missing Wally trying to slip his hand down to her butt only for her to slap his hand starkly.

"Oh and guys?"

Both turned once they made it to the doorway of their room, "Yeah bud?" Wally replied, misunderstanding seeping across his face. Artemis saw the playful leer appear on Dick's face and immediately went and stalked into her room, Wally still as confused as ever.

"No make out sessions, there will be plenty of time to make babies once we've thrown every thug in jail."

Wally glowed bright red and mumbled something incoherent before following after Artemis into their room and closing the door behind him. Dick let out a laugh as he headed to his room, man how he wished he had a picture of Wally like that framed.

* * *

i want domination

* * *

The three finished suiting up at the same time, Dick tapping a few buttons on his refurbished communicator which brought up Alfred back at Wayne Manor.

Dick's Nightwing suit was now close to being near pitch black; with reinforced bullet-proof metal plating on his shoulders, legs, hips, back and chest areas. The inner arms of his suit were no longer covered by black strips, instead his under shirt acting like a tank top as his pastel arms were shown—along with the word. His signature ocean blue bird still had it's wings spread wide across the brawl of his chest, there was now a suit tracker not only in his communicator but also a hidden on in the crook of his right elbow along with his utility belt and fighting sticks strapped to either of his sides.

Wally's Kid Flash suit was still the same colors as it was when he was a kid; lively yellow, neon red and his signature red googles on top of his head. He had bullet-proof shoulder pads, along with some defensive metal padding in his upper chest and stomach areas (because for some reason all of the bad guys aimed for his chest instead of his head when they tried to shot him zooming pass everyone). He also had a large snack compartment in his arm which he didn't fill considering the mission they were going on was going to be an in and out type of task.

Artemis was dressed in her usual superhero garb, she didn't like change too much, light ivy and dark emerald intermixing together to create a calm mixed color that was spattered throughout her outfit.

Dick turned away so that he could talk to Alfred as Wally and Artemis shared a deep kiss before lowering their cowls. He held his girlfriend in a hug for a few moments, whispering nothings in her ear before he said something somber. "Stay close to me," she opened her closed eyes and saw his twinkling green ones pleading her to agree with him, as they always did when he said something of this variant each time they went out on a operation together.

"Always."

Dick opened up the kitchen window, climbing out and grappling up to the apartment's roof. "Hello Master Richard, quite early for you to be calling sir." Dick chuckled, looking down at the butler now present on his hologram screen.

"You should be proud Al, remember when I refused to get up if it was earlier than one in the afternoon?"

"Those were some trying times sir,"

"Yeah now look at me, ready to go by eleven thirty."

Alfred allowed a ghost of a smile on his lips, "Of course sir." He had missed the boy dearly, having the last moments with Dick and not being able to save him as he raddled off last minute sayings to tell everyone he knew—it was horrible. Those were the only times when Alfred wished he was a superhero you know, when Bruce or Dick got into serious endangerment.

"Alright Alfred, I need all of the info you have on the lab that is currently being hijacked." He saw Wally and Artemis appear on either side of him on the ledge of the building after Alfred typed some things into the bat computer.

"Security cameras were disabled thirty minutes before the initial attack and nothing odd is reported being seen in any past hours before that, the coms for the four GCPD units sent to contain the unknown threat have been silent for at least forty-five minutes and counting. This really is an attack in the dark Master Richard."

Dick turned to Wally, "Take Artemis and run ahead, but don't get seen. Switch over to your covert camo if you have to, we aren't engaging until we know what the threat is."

"Got it," Artemis climbed on Wally's back in a mock piggy back ride and he sped off, leaving Dick alone.

"Master Richard," Alfred trailed off and Dick looked down at the man.

"Yeah Al?"

"I don't like the thought of the three of you approaching this case. Maybe you should wait until Master Bruce returns?" Alfred treated his words with tenderness, knowing pissing off Dick would be no way to go.

"Al, we will be fine. I have this covered, we are just going to go and see what's up."

"You said that last time sir and look what happened,"

Alfred answered softly and Dick sighed, "I'm doing this. But if there is something I can do to make you feel better about this—"

"Take the GPS with you, please sir? It would put some of my worry at ease."

Dick sent a beam to the butler, "Of course Al. I'll contact you if I need anything else."

"Good luck sir."

Dick cut off the connection and chambered back into the apartment, going to the back corner of the candy cabinet and grabbing his GPS. He attached the box to his belt, turning and seeing Brucely wagging his tail and nose in his face. "Hey boy," He scratched behind the pit bull's ears, taking notice of the streaks of a cream color enlaced within his roughed up fur. The dog let out a high pitched whine and Dick's eyebrows ceased in puzzlement, "What's the matter boy? Wally forget to feed you breakfast again?"

Brucely barked in response and Dick grabbed three scoops of dog food, tossing them in the dog bowl. The dog still seemed dismayed but went over and started eating anyway as Dick washed his hands. Dick rubbed the dog's back once more before moving back towards the window. The dog lifted his head and whined again, Dick finally knowing what his issue was.

Wally and Brucely had a very close relationship, the dog loved him the most out of the three of them. "Kid Idiot forgot to say bye to you didn't he boy?" The dog howled and Dick sighed. "It'll be alright boy. KF, Art and I will be back before three. I promise. Then you can bite the hell out of Wally." Dick exited the apartment, closing and using a lock pick to lock the window (fancy trick he learned from Bruce when he was younger and bored at one of their causal parties).

They would be home by three and then when Wally stumbled through the door in a blood-crusted suit from doing something stupid Brucely would come up and bite the living day lights out of him.

That's how it always was and exactly what would happen today.

* * *

i want your submission

* * *

"Watch out Nightwing!" Dick jumped out of the way just in time as Bane tossed a crate his way, the man still trying to find where Wally had scampered off to in the chaos. Actually, to be more accurate, Dick was still trying to figure out how they had gotten seen.

One second the three were sneaking through the lab and then the next Wally had ran off to try and clear the way out while leaving Artemis and Dick out of the shadows—the worse place to fight in a battle. Dick always preferred the shadows, the strange calming sense they brought in the mist of disorder.

They were like a second home to him, when he was younger Bruce had always found him hiding in closets and under the bed simply for the dark consuming him.

"Where the hell is KF Artemis?" She launched an arrow at Bane's gigantic form, rolling out of the way when he charged towards her as the arrow bounced off his bloated green veins.

"I don't know! The coms are jammed and Miss Martian isn't here so we don't have any telepathic communication." Dick groaned mentally. Maybe it would have been better to call Batman and ask him to send over Conner, M'gann and Kaldur to help them with this stupid hijacking.

They had gotten to the lab to find Bane and only Bane loading black painted crates with the words 'WARNING: TOXIC' all over them and as soon as he, somehow, spotted them—the truck took off and left a _very_ pissed off Bane in its wake. Dick knew Bane was known for selling drugs and illegal toxins but never from a working science lab.

"Baywatch says to me before we leave, as he always does, 'stay close to me' and then runs off like a chicken with no damn head!" Artemis shouted angrily as Dick got a good hit in on Bane with one of his sticks.

Suddenly a blur came from the right and Wally appeared, zipping around Bane a few times to confuse him. Artemis didn't look amused when the giant fell backwards—Wally and Dick finishing him off with some kicks to the head to render him unconscious.

"Art I think you need to learn to keep up." Artemis just jeered, Dick walking over to the two and pulling them into a hug.

"We did it guys."

"Technically we did lose the truck," Wally interrupted and Artemis elbowed him as a warning.

They pulled away from each other and as Artemis and Wally started bickering, Dick heard something behind him. He went to turn around and everything around him seemed to happen in slow motion as some sort of bullet flew pass his face and directly in Wally's neck.

Artemis screamed and Dick shouted as Wally slipped into a blanket of cool black.

* * *

i see you're not resisting, to this temptation

* * *

Dick yells out in frustration as he slams his fist down on the holographic computer in the cave's base—Artemis flinches from her spot next to him, not expecting the outburst. "I can't get a damn trace on him," Dick mutters and Artemis feels her heart contract.

Eleven hours had already passed since Wally's kidnapping and all of the team was getting more edgy as the moments whirred on.

It was already around ten at night.

After the 'bullet' was shot into Wally's neck, the hero of the night went to his friend's side and pulled it out; letting out a huge sigh of relief once it was seen that it was just a sleep dart. The next thing Artemis and he realized however; was that similar dart fired into their necks and they fell asleep. When the two awoke, Wally was gone and Dick's GPS was smashed to itty bitty pieces next to his face.

They called Alfred who contacted Bruce and in return the elder man sent Conner, M'gann and Kaldur back overseas to aid in the search for their friend. Kaldur went to place a steady hand on Dick's shoulder, "Clouding your head with anger—"

Dick nearly jumped out of his skin when Kaldur's fingers brushed against his shoulder, the man turning and moving away from Kaldur quickly. Kaldur stared at Dick, as did the rest of the team. Artemis wiped her eyes and looked at Dick, "Nightwing," her voice was low and caring—a voice he had never heard from Artemis before; "what's wrong?"

Dick looked from the computer screen to Artemis to Kaldur.

"I-I, you—Wally, h-he—"

He seemed to choke on his words as his eyes went wide, crazed. He rapidly turned and ran from the meeting room, ignoring the calls of his teammates as he stumbled down the hall to where his old room used to be.

The world was slowly closing in on him as he slammed the door open and fell to the musty floor on the inside of the room—breathing rabid and heart thrashing. His vision started to go black at the rims of his eyes, his mind superficially turning to mush within seconds.

Oxygen got caught in his throat, stopping him from breathing.

"Dick, Dick! You're alright. Everything is okay." A stifled voice reached his ears as someone struggled to pull his weighted body into their lap, attempting to calm him down. "You're okay, it's just an anxiety attack. Your fine, everything is alright. Take big deep breaths."

Dick heard the girl's voice and was trying to listen to it but it was too hard, he just wanted to go to sleep.

Sleep was painless.

* * *

i've got one confession

* * *

"Why do all of you struggle?"

Wally gasped from pain as the knife poked gingerly at his rib cage, he could feel his skin ripping from the increasing pressure the man was putting there. He gritted his teeth to prevent himself from screaming as the man shoved the knife inwards abruptly, Wally guessed it was from lack of answering.

But why answer a question when you have unbearable pain flowing through you anyway?

"Every single one of you _maggots_ I've taken, none of you ever give in without a fight. Tell me Kid, will you be like all of the others?" Wally felt like he couldn't get the air to his lungs, like the knife was a blockade within his veins.

When he had woken up; he was laid across a hard, metal table in a dimly lit sterilized room. He really hated anything remotely close to smelling or looking like hospitals, it started back when he had gotten tricked in the mission where he had to deliver the heart to the young girl. The feeling of defeat and fatigue mixing together as one was the worse type of discomfort he had felt, up until this moment, and from then on he loathed hospitals and anything relating to them.

The amount of times he had to leave Dick's side while he was recovering in the cave's infirmity to just get away from the odor of hand sanitizer and the hospital smell was outrageous. Artemis would come in and keep watch over Dick when Wally couldn't take it anymore and at times she would find her boyfriend's fear comical.

Now Wally would have given anything to just be away from this demented man—to be back home. The way he thought Dick had felt versus how he really felt, as he now fully understood, was an emotion one couldn't gauge.

It was impossible to image how it felt until it happened to you.

"Still no answer Wallace? From my research I thought you talked nonstop. Such a shame to hear you so quiet, when you might not ever speak again." Wally looked at the scientist directly in the eye (God how much he hated the dude) and then he allowed a smirk to fit across his lips.

"Go to hell you piece of shit."

When the man didn't respond and instead turned away to grab something off the medical table next to them Wally let out a grateful exhale. Did he finally get the damn guy to shut up? The color was drained from his face however when the scientist brought back a Taser in his wake. "I've also heard you like to experiment with things Wally; have you ever played with electricity?"

As the Taser was pressed against the ripped skin of his suit, Wally would have given anything to be wrapped in Artemis' arms in that moment of suffering.

* * *

a love deprivation

* * *

"It's okay. It's alright."

One minute the woman's voice is soothing to his senses and her touch is like butterflies kissing his skin and within the next it's like he's back under Sportsmaster's damn intent look and glimmering carving knifes.

One minute there's a woman holding him in her lap, blissfully ignoring the size difference between them, skimming her fingers through his hair in a comforting motion and the next is a million pricks of knifes impaling his skin from all around him.

His brain doesn't know what to make of it, the sudden change in emotion—sudden change in physical modification.

"I know how you feel Dick," the woman whispers softly, "you feel like the world is closing in on you. You feel like a black hole is swallowing you up and that you have nowhere to run."

Dick's eyes snap open and meet the eyes of Artemis. Her irises have a glossy tint to them, a few dried tears resting in spots on her light coffee colored skin. She smiles once his eyes are open and he is aware of his surroundings again, how he takes instant notice of their forms slouched over each other in a heap just next to the still-freshly-made-bed from one year previous; when he had moved his infrequent amount of things from the cave to his apartment.

"Hey Dickie," He smiled at the nickname she obviously picked up from Wally using all of the time, against Dick's wishes.

"Hey," He croaked, surprised at how scratchy his voice came out. He cleared his throat as he slowly sat up, moving his body from her lap and getting into a sitting position next to her—propping his head on her lean shoulder. She grabbed one of his hands resting in his lap, her head falling gently to rest next to his.

A peaceful silence whelms them.

* * *

i've got a jet black heart

* * *

"No, no . . . no!"

Wally's eyes shot open at the startling sound of the man's raspy voice screaming from across the lab room, where all of the testing equipment resided. Wally grunted with the effort of lifting his head up, struggling to see what the scientist was livid about as he scurried from one side of the glass table to the other—poking tubes and dumping altered dyed rainbow liquids from one container to another.

He let out a heavy puff of air through his nose, not really wanting to signal to the man that he was awake.

The last thing he remembered was burning white hot pain in his lower stomach area, from the Taser the man so frantically used. Wally tried to move his arms and legs, temporarily forgetting that they were restrained by metal shackles attached to the table, causing the man to sharply turn around.

"You!" He heckled, Wally's heart dropping down to his knees, "This is all your fault!" The man roared, approaching Wally and sending a slap directly across his face. Wally's face jolted with the movement, neck craning as it was forced to impossible angles.

"Your accelerated blood _ruined_ the cure!"

Within seconds the man's hardened hands closed around Wally's throat, effectively choking him. The speedster had a sickening feeling that this was the end. After all of the torture he went through, the end actually didn't seem too bad.

He would take the Grim Reaper's hand willingly if he had to.

* * *

it's all fucked up and it's falling apart

* * *

"Thank you," His gruff voice breaks the silence around them and Artemis opens her eyes at his words.

"Dick, why didn't you just tell us you were getting anxiety attacks? Getting bizarre whenever people touched you or came near you?"

Dick stared at their entwined hands, "What did you tell the team, about why I ran off?"

Artemis sighed, half in defeat. "I told them you just needed some time. Now stop dodging the question." Dick slowly pulled his hand out of her limp grip, his mind racing. He shouldn't be focused on anything else then finding Wally.

When he was taken; he had heard that Bruce had gone without sleep for three days straight, Artemis couldn't look at herself in the mirror without feeling like her father was torturing Dick directly behind her, Wally had lost all motivation to eat anything, Kaldur felt like a failure in not protecting his teammates properly, M'gann couldn't stop crying when her mind shot to anything relating to Dick while Conner . . . well let's just say he took care of some of his pent up rage by finding some uninhabited Cadmus buildings and tearing the remains to shreds.

And what was Dick doing while his best friend was probably being tortured senseless?

He was fighting off a _pathetic_ anxiety attack, being consoled in Wally's girlfriend's arms.

It was a messed up turn of events.

"I still have panic attacks sometimes." Artemis spoke unobtrusively, Dick rotating his head in reaction, "As um you figured out when you were Robin back in the day . . . and figured out just a few months ago when you were alone with him—he wasn't the best Dad in the world."

Dick's tongue felt like lead, but he was able to get himself to speak after a moment. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head, "He was verbally abusive all of the time; only got physical when he was pissed off or high off adrenaline from his latest victim. It was hell, growing up in a family like mine and I still feel horrified every time we are about to go into battle or something. Sometimes, if I get fearful or scared for someone else I'll slip into a panic attack—like how I used to when I was younger." She pauses for a second to catch her breath and it feels like a century has passed before she speaks again. "And I know what you're thinking in that bighead of yours, that it's stupid or pathetic, that you should be out finding Wally. But it's not any of those things because it is a reality and it is a real thing that happens to people. Don't push aside your health because of your fortitude to find Wally."

Dick wondered how much Artemis had truly gone through that she wasn't telling.

Her voice in that moment sounded like one that could come from a woman who had been through too much in her twenty something years of life.

"Does KF know about any of this? What you've been through?"

She seems to ponder the thought for a moment, curling into herself—head resting on her knees. "Some of it," her beaten murmur was painful to Dick and he knew that he find to Wally.

Not only for his sake and everyone else's but for Artemis—who was still looking for someone not to leave her. Someone to stick by her side through it all.

* * *

i've got another confession, i fell to temptation

* * *

Dick and Artemis walked out of his old room composed and were meant by the concerned faces of the team when they made it back to the mission room in the cave. "I am sorry if I upset you Nightwing,"

Kaldur's voice was waved off by Dick who sent him a smile, "I'm good now, thanks to Art."

M'gann tugged her friend into a side hug at Dick's words, Artemis chuckling and hugging M'gann back. Dick turned to the computer after watching the exchange between the two girls and getting a heartfelt nod from Kaldur.

He clicked a few buttons, bringing up Wally's goofy picture on screen (of course the day of public record pictures or whatever, there was pizza sauce dripping off his chin—only Wally West could achieve such a thing without problem).

"Our last contact with Wally was twelve hours ago, when he was fighting alongside us to take down Bane."

"What was Bane doing in Gotham exactly?" Conner interrupted boldly, Dick shaking his head.

"From the looks of it he was stealing crates full of toxin from an active science base; we still have no idea what kind of toxin it was or for what reason." The computer beeped from behind Dick, Bruce appearing onscreen with his signature Batman frown plastered on his cowl. "Hey Bats," his son answered, looking muddled, "is there something wrong?"

Bruce saw Dick tense when he spoke of something wrong and the man really wished he could find that man who did those horrid things to Dick and tear his body to pieces. He did try to rip Sportsmaster a new one but Clark had stopped him just as he made it to the new high-tech prison the vile man was locked in.

"I just wanted to check in. We've encountered another mission tagged with similar dangerous aspects as this one so now we have to travel to Europe to ensure that the threat is eliminated at all costs. All of the Justice League, excluding Flash and Green Arrow who have agreed to keep an eye on you six, are meeting up with us in Europe to help with finishing off this threat to the world."

Dick looked unsure, "Batman, do you w-want to switch us out with the new team? If this is such a serious threat that you need the entire league to assist you—"

"No, you six stay there and keep an eye on North America. I've already had an accomplice re-wire the zeta beam to be able to teleport you to anywhere within the zone of the northern hemisphere." Bruce heard the slight waver in his son's words, the look of relief after he had told Dick to stay put. He knew finding Wally was Dick's number one priority—for the well-being of him and the rest of the team.

Meanwhile, Dick smiled at the mention of Bruce's 'accomplice'. He knew that was just fancy talk for the man asking a favor of Alfred.

"Status report on Kid Flash?" The strict tone of his voice was enough to direct the conversation back to its main point. Dick seemed to look lost at his words so Artemis stepped in and answered for him.

"We have gotten nowhere. Nightwing's GPS was smashed by whoever knocked us out, and Wally's suit tracker was ripped out and left next to my head."

Bruce looked grave, lost in thought.

He spoke after an overwrought minute, "Have you tried having the computer track his heat signature? I set up a few motion detectors around the United States for when Flash would get pissed off and just keep running. They have sensitive motion detectors along with the ability to take unlimited pictures of the heat signatures passing by. With the heat sensors, when something runs by it at an abnormal speed it gets tagged or when something simply moves within it's range it will record it for further inspection. The history is reset every month."

Dick looked like he was throwing numbers together or inventing science formulas in his brain, "How many sensors are located in and around Gotham?"

"Four hundred within the city, probably around six hundred around the outskirts."

M'gann's eyes widened, "That will take us hours to sort through!"

Bruce looked at the distinct faces of each member of the team. "Not if you all work together to save your friend. He would do the same for you." With that final grim note, Bruce's face bleeped off the screen and Dick felt oddly alone again.

Before turning around to meet the staggered faces of the team he brought up the sensors on the computer screen, bringing up a removal tab. "We can remove any sensors near schools, hospitals and highly public places. Lower the standards of the heat signature we are looking for to match KF's height, weight range, veins and bone structure and that leaves us with—"

The computer beeped once Dick hit the enter button, turning to face the team. "Two hundred to sort through." When it seemed like the rest of the team didn't want to speak their shock Conner took the reins.

"The faster we finish this, the faster we find Kid Flash."

* * *

and there is no question, there was some connection

* * *

"Stop, please j-just freaking stop! S-Stop." Wally panted out, screwing his eyes shut when the man put another slash into Wally's now crimson colored skin.

"Rhetorical question Wallace . . . have you ever been picked on in school? In a public place?" The man removed the knife as he waited for an answer, Wally trying to move his arms from the shackles caging him in with no success.

He hadn't been picked on since middle school, where some kid had shoved him into a locker for being so skinny and 'looking like a troll'. Wally fixed that by high school, cleaning himself up and covering up his insecurities with a loud laugh and contagious grin.

What was this man's goal?

"M-Middle school. Shoved into a l-locker."

Every word hurt, it felt like one of his ribs was shoved into his lung. The man grabbed a syringe off the table next to him, eyeing up the yellow liquid inside. "Everything about me; from my looks to my raspy voice—they would take any stab they could get in. Nice shoes they said. Shame if they got lost they said. Next thing I knew they were tied to the top of a flag pole. You think you know what pain is," he hissed, shoving the needle harshly into the flush skin of Wally's shoulder blade.

Wally screamed, he had no idea that was such a spiteful spot. Maybe this mad scientist dude had a background in doctor stuff, Wally thought half heartily. "But the truth is . . . you don't. I've lost my mother to a tragic thing. I've lost my sanity to the people around me. I'm only trying to make you _understand_ how I feel."

The blue bruises on Wally's neck seemed to suddenly throb at the man's words and Wally had to hold down the ire trying to rise up his throat. "The truth is, you will never understand how I feel every day of my life. How I am endlessly searching for a cure. How you will play such a minor part in making me feel . . . normal."

Wally would've said a smart remark actually, if the man hadn't grabbed another three needles and the Taser. Wally squeezed his eyes shut tight and thought of Artemis' lips covering every inch of his body as a scream ripped from his throat.

* * *

i've got to follow my heart

* * *

Dick moved backwards for a moment, rubbing at the itchy domino mask covering his eyes. He wished he could take it off but not like that was a possibility with a bunch of exhausted young adults around him. A loud whoosh from behind him had him snapping his eyes open. Was Wally back? He made it out?

He whipped around so fast he could've gotten whiplash but it was obvious his face fell when it wasn't Wally who had skyrocketed into the cave but instead the Flash himself—Mister Barry Allen.

When Barry saw the disappointed look on Dick's face he found himself sending the man a remorseful look but Dick shook it off and moved towards the man; pulling him into a short hug. The move astonished Barry and the team around them but the elder speedster hugged back anyway, patting Dick on the back before pulling away.

"Hiya Night," It killed Dick that Barry's voice was missing the usual energy he always seemed to have; even if he tried to hide it by using his special nickname for Dick.

"Hey Flash,"

The older man's eyes inspected the room they were in; Dick noticed how his eyes quickly glanced at each mini screen with information about the heat sensors on them. He looked back at Dick, "How are you guys doing?"

"Okay. Bats told us that we should check the—"

"Motion sensors in Gotham?"

Dick chuckled, "How did you know about that?" Barry shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. Dick ignored the pang in his heart at how he realized where Wally got that same habit from. From his loving uncle.

"I know he put some in all of the places I could run to if I got mad about something. There are a _lot_ more in Central City." Dick noticed the faraway look Barry's eyes got after a minute of quiet silence. Dick placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and Barry's eyes glanced at Dick wearily.

"He will be okay Flash."

"How do you know that Night? How long did it take you to recover?" Artemis risked a side-glance at the two, knowing Barry was treading on thin ice. Dick's lips went into a thin line, his eyes cold and dismembered behind the white slits of his mask. Barry felt a twitch of responsibility but that that consumed by the rage hidden deep down inside of him. His nephew was missing, the kid he looked after like he was his own.

"I'm still recovering." Dick answered firmly, feeling the word engraved in his forearm burning severely.

"I know your strong Night, damn it I know you are. But what if Wally can't recover? He's never been kidnapped or tortured before; he's never had to deal with such a thing! Central isn't like Gotham, our petty criminals are just like pawns in a chest game. But the thugs in Gotham are like bishops and rooks and kings and queens!"

Artemis stood up then, walking steadily in between the two, "Stop it, both of you. Wally is going to be perfectly fine."

* * *

no matter how far

* * *

"Worthless!"

Slap.

"You are nothing!"

Hit.

"You are a damn disgrace!"

Punch.

It all stings and it all causes Wally's vision to go darker in each passing moment. He thinks he had started bleeding out around twenty minutes ago. The man presses against one of Wally's cuts in finale. "I thought taking you would give me a cure. I-I thought I would be able to get somewhere. My father actually thought kidnapping a super would be challenging. That I wouldn't be able to destroy you. But oh, look at this. You shake at my very touch."

Wally wanted to spit out a smartass comment, about how he was quivering because of the sharp fingernail of his bayonetted within his bleeding stab wound.

"I'm going to let you go," Wally couldn't stop his heart from skipping a beat at the scientist, the man noticing and laughing hideously. He removed his fingernail from Wally's cut, with a breathless wheeze from Wally, and headed over to the sink in the corner. Wally could hear the cool rush of water and it was like music to his ears, a sliver of normal.

"I'm going to let you stumble out of here in a haze with one final experiment. But fear not, I'll take Richard and you again soon. Now let me go and fetch Bane."

* * *

i've gotta roll the dice

* * *

"We aren't going to find him in time," Barry muttered, crunching thoughts in his head.

It had been fourteen hours and no word.

Fourteen hours and they weren't any closer.

Green Arrow was busy with Red Arrow and it was just Barry and the old team left to search for Wally. There was too much land and not enough people. Artemis ran a hand through her bangs, "We are. We have to!"

"Guys!" M'gann's excited voice shocked everyone, considering the circumstances.

"What is it?" Conner questioned, moving to stand behind M'gann. His eyebrows raised after a moment and he looked over at Dick with what the man could only assume was a grin. "She found a heat signature. It's Wally. He's laying behind a billboard just a few blocks over from Bruce Wayne Manor."

Dick's eyes narrowed behind his mask but only Artemis noticed because they both thought of the same thing.

A message to them.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Barry was out of the door before he could finish his sentence. The team followed as fast as they could.

* * *

never look back and never think twice

* * *

He was cold.

But then he was hot.

He was in pain.

But then it would disappear within a ripple.

Was he floating between dimensions? Passing between life and death. He was muttering to himself in such a low tone of voice that he wasn't even sure what he was mumbling because of how much shock he was still in after the final experiment.

Everything friggin' hurt.

"A-Aer—on . . . " He heard something whoosh to the right of him and hands fitting over his face and chest. A soft sound.

"Kid? Kid can you hear me?" He could but he also couldn't understand why two certain words continued floating around in his brain, crying out to be heard.

* * *

take your past and burn it up and let it go

* * *

"Kid? Are you alright?" Wally groaned, barely holding on to his mushed brain.

"H—ya. D-Des." He cried out weakly when a hand brushed against once of his cuts. Talking surrounded him and then two more sets of hands were touching his body. Wally wished he could open his eyes.

"Babe, oh thank God Wally. You're alive."

Just hardly, Wally thought bitterly to himself in the meantime.

A pair of lips pressed themselves against his and he took a pity guess that it was his girlfriend. "Wall-Man, you alright?" That was Dick's voice, he was sure of it. Who else would use one of his embarrassing nicknames in a frail attempt of waking him up?

* * *

carry on; i'm stronger than you'll ever know

* * *

"Listen Baywatch I love you okay? I freaking love you so you can't die on me, not now. Okay because I need you to be able to say it back to me." Artemis tried to keep her voice strict, she did. But she couldn't help the falter in her words or the sob stuck in her throat.

Next Dick spoke and Wally didn't know how much longer he could hold on. The darkness seemed so damn nice. "You saved my ass so now I'm going to save you man, okay? Just hold on."

Then his uncle spoke and it broke his trampled heart. "C'mon Kid. You can survive this. You're Kid Flash, you can survive anything."

Next it was M'gann because he could feel her wet tears all over him, more so than Artemis'. "Wally, you're the only one that can make me smile. You're the one that made me okay with being . . . me. So wake up so I can hug you and see that crooked stupid smile on you one last time."

Then it was Conner. "Get up man, come on. Who else will steal the shit out of my room? All my hidden food?"

Finally Kaldur and Wally felt a shiver run through his spine. "My fallen friend, we need you. But in the end it's your choice. Either join the warriors of the afterlife or continue to fight for the foes of the present."

Wally felt a smile fall upon his lips and muttered the only words that could come to mind. "A-Aeron Hyad-des."

The darkness took him and Artemis let the tears fall. Dick's posture sagged. Barry picked up Wally and ran, ran as fast as he could. "Hang on Kid, I'm going to save you."

And somewhere in Wally's clouded mind he heard a cackle and a whoosh of speed and an arrow flying by and wondered why everyone had to grow up. It was easier when he was just running for the wind flying through his hair, when Dick would cackle from the shadows at the humor of stupid bad guys and when Artemis just shot arrows at camp targets.

Where had their childhoods gone?


	3. three

_**This**_ **chapter contains:**

Spoilers: Season 1 and Season 2

Random Lyrics from: Last Resort by Papa Roach

Pairings: Dick and Artemis brotherly/sisterly friendship (can be viewed as Traught if any of you want it to be), DaddyBats, small amounts of DaddyFlash, with a bit of Chalant

Extra Notes: You guys won't know what I'm talking about until you read but Wally has a very bitter attitude in this chapter which allows for a lot of things to happen. He's acting like that because of the traumatic experience he had just been through (even Dick was sure to have some experience with torture as his time as Robin—I'm sure the Joker and some other Gotham villains would've gotten their hands on him) which he has no idea how to deal with. So he lashes out instead, as anyone would do if they had so much bottled up inside. But no worries, he won't be an asshole forever—I'm not that cruel of a person. :)

 _This_ chapter is **rated teen for** touchy topics revolving around mental illnesses, heavy language, references to past torture, in depth descriptions of Wally's injuries and slight sexual situations.

* * *

cut my life into pieces, this is my last resort

* * *

There was a numb feeling located in his thigh, a warm sensation throbbing across his body. "Kid?" He groaned, willing his eyes to open but to no success. A rough hand touched his bare shoulder and he flinched away from the unforeseen pain it caused, whimpering in discomfort. The hand rubbed his shoulder for another second before fitting through his hair, "Wally?"

He whined in protest, a headache forming from the man's loud voice. A puff of air was released in relief next to him. "It's alright Kid, everything is okay. I'm going to go get Batman alright? You just stay right there and try to open your eyes."

The feeling of a body sitting next to him disappeared and Wally felt too alone. He struggled to open his eyes but got them open after a few minutes and was meant by a harsh bright light around him. He blinked a few times, trying to adjust his eyes to the light and took in his surroundings.

The first thing his drug-induced mind could comprehend was that he was in the cave's infirmary (the doodle of a stick figure person sitting on a toilet with a newspaper on the polished ceiling was enough of a giveaway—he had doodled different things in non-washable black, heavy duty Sharpie one day when he was bored in each of the infirmary rooms). The next was that there was a dull throbbing literally everywhere in his body. He decided to sit up but didn't get too far and hissed in pain just as his uncle rocketed back in the room.

Within seconds he was helping Wally sit up, whispering words of reassurance as Wally griped through the pain with heavy breaths and agony filled huffs. Barry readjusted the pillows to keep him sitting up and then returned to the chair at the side of his bed, taking Wally's hand in his.

"I heard you so I sped ahead of Batman, he should be here in just a second. How are you feeling Kid? There are pain killers in your system and some morphine."

Wally nodded his head, not really wanting to talk. Sure; the meds were helping him but it still hurt. Every part of his body still hurt. He also didn't miss the way Barry talked; like as if there was something stuck in his throat but strangely hollow at the same time. Bruce entered the room before Barry could comment on the odd sound of silence around Wally. Bruce walked over to the machine beeping next to Wally, checking his vitals and Wally noticed Barry staring daggers into Bruce's cape.

He looked at his uncle, "D-Don't do t-that." His voice was low and scratchy, Barry snapping his attention from Bruce to his nephew.

"Don't do what?" Barry questioned, an abrasive scoff coming from Wally a moment later.

"Don't try to b-blame this, w-what happened to me, o-on Batman." Barry looked shocked for a second and then he tried to hide it, but didn't do such a great job, as his eyes narrowed. Bruce turned around and stood tall next to Barry's seated form, white silted eyes glancing between nephew and uncle wearily.

"Wally I'm not blaming anything on anyone," Wally wanted to laugh out loud, he really did—because he knew his uncle better than anyone. Their attitudes nearly mirrored each other's and Wally already knew what he had probably done; pulled Bruce aside and yelled at him in the riveting silence of just them alone.

"Like hell you aren't," the young man countered, jade eyes burning, "you probably f-freaked out as much as B-Batman did when Nightwing went missing," He was glad his voice was losing its stutter as he became more awake but at the same time the words he spat felt odd in his mouth.

It was Bruce, not Batman.

It was Dick, not Nightwing.

Wally felt the use of hero names dampened the meaning of the conversation, hindered it. There just wasn't as much emotion when you talked about a superhero instead of a human being. "Wally that's bulls—"

"Enough."

Bruce decided now was as good of a time as any to stop the two from bickering—though a part of him felt funny. When Dick had gotten back he wasn't cold like Wally was acting at all, instead his son relished in the feeling of family around him and friends near him. Something was off with how Wally was acting and Bruce had a nauseating feeling that it wasn't from the drugs affecting his system. Wally looked down at his hands at Bruce's stern command, Barry staring at his feet. The caped crusader sighed in the meantime, "Alright Kid, do you want to know the extent of your injuries?"

"Not really," Wally mumbled, Barry's eyebrows furring. But before his uncle could say anything, Bruce started speaking.

"There are twelve stiches currently located in your right thigh to stop the bleeding from the long gash that rested there. Ten more stiches are also in your right arm, near your elbow as it looks like someone tried to drill into the bone." Wally looked like a stone as the memories hit him and Barry unintentionally grabbed ahold of his nephew's hand and squeezed hard. Bruce looked more dismayed as he continued, "There was an infected cut on your left lower calf which we stitched up with twenty stiches and should be healed within a matter of weeks. Multiple bruises and some small cuts are still tender on your face along with heavy bruising in the array of fingerprints on your neck. I think it will heal but it is possible from the pressure put there that a scar might be there forever."

Barry looked like he had just saw a ghost float in from of him, "K-Kid did he," he gulped loudly, "did h-he try to choke you to d-death?"

"Yeah, among other things." Wally's voice sounded like a shell of his own, dead. Emotionless. Bruce exhaled before speaking again, as much as he didn't want to keep listing the amount of injuries Wally had gained.

"The biggest things we had to take care of was everything on your chest. There were disbelieving amounts of lacerations, drilled holes and burn marks coating your torso. We added the natural lotions and the pain killers you will need to take should help with any discomfort you end up having. Kid, the main bulk of this is that you will be out of hero duty for a few months. Pulling on any of the cuts you have acquired could set you back a great amount of time so the best way to heal in your case is to stay in bed. Your accelerated healing should help you, we snapped your shoulder blade and left ankle back into place a while ago. That might be the dull throbbing you can keep wincing from."

Bats didn't miss anything that was for sure; Wally thought with a hidden smile. No wonder Dick was always scared to death of getting caught in a lie when Wally would sneak him out to get a few beers or go for nighttime patrolling when they were younger.

"Jaysus K-Kid," Barry muttered, his words slurring together as they did when he got overwhelmed.

Bruce looked between Barry and Wally, rubbing at the back of his cowl. "I'll leave you two alone."

With that he was gone, the door to Wally's room shut behind him. If he was being honest, Wally didn't want to be left alone with his uncle. He wasn't ready for the pity filled looks or stern talking to—whichever one came first. "Kid, I just . . . I-I don't know what to say." Wally shrugged, grimacing at the sticky bandages pulling on his bare chest.

"Then don't say anything at all."

Barry sighed, "I'm sorry this happened to you Kid, you know I'm sorry." Wally avoided Barry's eyes, staring at his blankets. "But listen, things will get better. You fell into a coma for about a week which gave your body some extra time to heal. You won't be bedridden for long."

Wally didn't care about being stuck in bed, he actually couldn't wait for it. He cared about that man being out in the open, that man being free and able to perform his experiments on any person he choose.

Barry took Wally's silence as a signal to keep talking, "The League took down the threat out in Europe, and everyone is waitin' for you out there. Bart is really worried about you. As well as the rest of the team and your girlfriend." Barry winked at his nephew, knowing that would get some flushed cheeks and a quip out of Wally but his stomach dropped when Wally simply gave his uncle an empty stare back. "Listen Wally, there are people that care about you here. Here and out there and I haven't even gotten around to telling your parents what happened."

"Then don't."

Barry sighed heavily, standing up. "Kid, don't shut me out."

Wally held up his hands in mock surrender, "I'm not." Barry rubbed at his masked eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Goddamn it Kid, don't do this. Don't close yourself up. Don't do this." Barry seemed to be repeating the phrase to himself over and over and Wally got annoyed after hearing the words leaving his chapped lips.

"What do you expect me to do Barry? Forget any of this shit happened to me and just crack jokes again?" He shouted suddenly, Barry sending him a knowing look.

"I'm not saying that's what you have to do Wally, I'm just saying you can't live in your past. You are only gonna become worse and worse if you can't get past what happened to you."

Wally felt the tears prick at his eyes as his uncle headed towards the door, "We've all been through things—"

"You have no right—"

"I do have the right because I have to make sure you turn out okay!" He raised his voice and coughed quietly after stunning Wally into stillness, rubbing at the back of his neck. He didn't look at Wally for a minute, instead staring at his feet, but when he looked back over at his nephew—his eyes were filled with regret. Sadness.

" _Listen_ to me Wally. When you started crime fighting your parents were absolutely terrified for you. They didn't want you to leave the house. They wanted to lock you up so that you couldn't get hurt; which is what any parent would want to do. I talked them out of it, said that it would be best if you learned the right way to use your powers. That you were more dangerous without having any idea. Do you know what they made me promise them?"

Wally laughed humorlessly, "To not be such a damn—"

"They made me promise that you would never get hurt. That you would never get _so_ hurt that you would become broken. That I would protect you."

"Get. Out." His voice was a hoarse whisper and it broke Barry's heart.

"I failed you Kid, I know I did and I'm sorry. I'm _so_ fucking _sorry_ that you have to live with this," Wally stayed quiet—mad or broken or sad or pissed—Barry couldn't tell. He opened up the door, not looking back. "I'll send in Artemis. Maybe she can knock some sense into you Kid." A tear slipped down Wally's cheek once his uncle was out of range.

* * *

suffocation, no breathing

* * *

When Barry made it to the large waiting room just outside of the infirmary; Dick, Artemis and Bart ran up to him for news while the rest of the waiting team members stood up from their seats (excluding Gar who had fell asleep on M'gann). Barry's eyes widened behind his cowl as he lifted his hands in a calming motion, most of the team taking their seats again.

Dick stood in front of him with his arms crossed, Artemis half leaning on his shoulder for support as her arms were wrapped around Bart's shoulders haphazardly, the youngster leaning into the older woman's warm touch. It kind of reminded Barry of a messed up family; Wally as the father, Artemis as the mother, Dick as the estranged uncle and Bart as the adopted kid.

"How is he?" Dick questioned, Barry sighing.

"He's okay. I told him I would send Artemis in—"

"When can I see him?" Bart cut in, Barry sending him a weakened smile. He crouched down, ruffling the younger speedster's crazy brown hair.

"In a little while bud, no worries. You can chill out here with Night until then alright?" Bart nodded, Artemis letting go of him to go and head to Wally's room.

Dick put a hand on Bart's shoulder, "Go and take a seat next to Jamie, I'll be there in a second. I just need to talk to Flash for a second." Bart nodded eagerly, obeying Dick's words. Dick waited until Bart was out of range before taking Barry by the arm and pulling him far aside. "How is he really Flash?"

Barry shook his head gravely, "Not good Night . . . I don't know what's wrong with him."

Dick's lips pulled into a frown, "What do you mean?" He muttered, Barry looking distraught.

"H-He isn't talking, he isn't himself. It's scaring me Night," Dick put a reassuring hand on Barry's shoulder.

"It'll be okay Flash."

"Yeah . . . I have to go and meet up with Batman and the rest of the League at the Watchtower, keep me posted?" Dick nodded, sending Barry a smile. Barry waved one last time before speeding off, Dick walking back over to his seat next to Bart. He held his head in his hands, heart beating fast. Were they too late in saving him?

* * *

'cause I'm losing my sight

* * *

"Nightwing?" Bart's small voice caused Dick to raise his head, sending the boy sitting next to him a tired smile.

"What's up bud?"

The younger boy played with his fingers, unsure in how to ask his question while Dick waited patiently, "What . . . what happened to Wally?" He whispered, Dick's heart dropping.

When Bruce had walked out of Wally's room, he had talked to Dick privately about the extent of all of Wally's injuries before taking off for the tower ("Keep an eye on him son," he had muttered before turning away to the zeta beam). Dick shook his head, Bart looking down at his folded over hands.

"I-It's not looking too good Bart, I mean I don't know how he's doing. I wish I could see him." Bart nodded silently, Dick leaning back and scratching at his head. The room was deadly silent besides the occasional snore or hushed murmur here and there.

The waiting room was the size of the 'chill room', as Wally had dubbed it years ago, by the cave's kitchen—with dull rosy cement walls and a ceiling that had seen better days.

There were five rows of uncomfortable black leather chairs spread across the room with some end tables and a glass coffee table resting in the middle of the room. Everyone who was present were dressed in their civvies, excluding M'gann and Conner who were too tired to care.

Kaldur and Raquel sat in the first row of chairs, the latter's eyes closed and head resting on his shoulder. Karen and Mal sat a few seats down from those two, hands intertwined as they stared blankly at the red walls around them. La'gaan sat by himself at the end of the row, too busy counting the different colors in his skin to care; he didn't want to know how Wally was doing—it scared him.

No one was seated in the second row of chairs but the third row of chairs was where M'gann and Conner resided—M'gann was holding Conner's hand so tight Dick was surprised it didn't fall off yet. Gar was settled in a deep sleep between them, the two's bodies cradling his like a baby in a crib. At the end of the third row, across from where Dick sat, was were Barbara and Cassie were. They both clung to each other like sisters, because Wally was like a brother to them and it hurt them too much to put into words that he had gotten so hurt.

No one sat in the fifth row of chairs so that left the fourth row, where halfway down sat in order—Tim (fumbling with playing a game of ping pong on his holographic communicator), Jamie (mumbling reassurances to himself or to nobody, no one ever knew), Bart (playing with his thumbs), Dick (trying to compose himself still) and finally Zatanna (eyes closed and mind alive with thoughts of how she felt the same way now as she did when her father sacrificed himself) who's head was leaning softly against Dick's shoulder. He sighs, the black tee shirt adorning his form feeling tight around his neck.

He wished he could take off his shades or something to just feel less cramped. But his mind just wouldn't calm down—Wally was going to be alright. Right? It was Kid Mouth after all—the one who liked to crack smartass jokes and stupid wisecracks.

He would always be okay . . .

* * *

losing my mind

* * *

There's a soft knock on the door and Wally grunts delicately as he opens his eyes, seeing Artemis standing there. A small smile spreads across his face, Artemis taking that an answer to enter the room. She takes note of the IV in Wally's hand and the wires hooked up to his body; carefully sitting on the left side of his bed and grabbing the hand without the IV.

She rubs her thumb along the back of it, taking notice of a new thinly wrapped piece of white gauze resting there. Her grey eyes clash with his green ones when she looks up at his battered face, sighing quietly.

"Hey babe," The grin he sports after her words brightens up his face and she smiles gently.

His red hair is wild, most of it sticking up and a thin strip of bandage is located on the right side of his forehead. His slightly freckled cheeks have lost some of their color from dehydration and square brown bandages were riddled across multiple parts of his face. Wally could see his girlfriend instantly pale at the blueish bruises still formed in the shape of hands on most of his neck.

A revolting shade of beige snaked down from the bottom of his chin to the back of his neck, wrapping around to the front and leading downwards to underneath his grey hospital gown.

Wally squeezed Artemis' hand as hard as he could, though it was worrying to Artemis that it only felt like a small pressure on her fingers when he tried, and then he spoke. "Stop looking at me like that, I'm fine."

She reached forwards and brushed a piece of his hair out of his eyes, "It doesn't look like it Baywatch. It looks like you've been through hell."

He scoffs, "I know. I was there." There was a cold tone underlying his words and she felt uneasy. Why did it feel like she was talking to a stranger?

"I'm glad your back home. Brucely will be ecstatic when he gets to see you." Artemis played unwittingly with each of his fingers, like as if she was trying to memorize his body.

"If I ever get home," Wally muttered, Artemis snapping her head up to glare at him.

"You will get home because you will be okay."

"How do you know that Artemis? Everyone keeps saying I'll get past this but none of you know what I went through—"

"You know I'm always here if you need something Baywatch," She cut him off with a firm but composed voice, Wally yanking his hand out of her hold. "Do you . . . do you want to talk about it Wally?"

He shook his head stubbornly, "No. I never want to go back there again."

"Babe, sometimes it's better to talk about things. Remember when I kept getting nightmares about my dad catching you one day and kicking the living shit out of you? And how you were there to comfort me?"

"Yeah false words of reassurance because as it turns out Sportsmaster ended up kicking the shit outta Dickie."

Artemis stood up from Wally's hospital bed, tears threatening to break out of her irises. "What has gotten into you Wally? Where's the stupid, one hell of a dumbass superhero I fell in love with?" Wally simply stared at his girlfriend for a moment, before speaking and breaking her heart.

"That dumbass is still locked in that room, getting holes drilled into his bones. If you fucking wanted that guy to come back, than you should've saved me faster. You left me there to _die_ Artemis!"

He watched as her face seemingly went through the seven stages of grief, fist anger then bewilderment then fear and then undeniable sadness. A tear fell from her stormy eyes and Wally watched as the liquid rolled down her cheek and then dripped off her chin, dropping to the polished floor to create a tiny puddle. It was like watching her break before him in slow motion and the messed up thing was that he didn't feel bad.

"Maybe we should've left you there then!" She shouted not realizing her words until she had ran out of the room and slammed the door behind her. But she would apologize later, whenever Wally West came out from the rock he was stuck under.

* * *

wish somebody would tell me I'm fine

* * *

When Artemis walked back into the waiting room with tears in a steady stream down her dark cheeks an instant group of people were at her side. Dick instantly pulled the older girl into his arms, M'gann placing a hand on her back, Bart trying to hold onto her one hand to show some type of comfort and Conner secretly seething at her side—he could tell Wally had said something to hurt her.

"What did he say? I swear I'll go in there and kick his ass."

"Conner." M'gann turned to Conner and gave him a look, the man muttering his next string of things he could do to Wally in that moment under his breath. Dick rubbed Artemis' back, sending M'gann a confused look which she returned.

"Art, what's wrong? Is Wally okay?"

Bart finally was able to grab her hand, smiling triumphantly. M'gann moved closer to make sure she got some attention from Artemis. "If you really don't want to talk I could read your mind Artemis but it's completely up to—"

"Do it." She murmured through her congested sobs, Dick becoming more apprehensive as the moments became minutes.

"Art talk to me, please." He begged as M'gann's eyes glowed a vibrant green. Bart watched fearfully just as Gar woke up and stumbled over in his half asleep state next to Conner who had took a few steps back to calm himself.

"Conner? What's goin' on?" Conner slung a soothing arm around the younger boy, pulling him close.

"Artemis just got spooked at something, that's all. Sleep well?" He answered gruffly, Gar smiling at the causal matter of Conner.

"Yeah, I um had a nightmare about my uh mom and it woke me up." Conner simply pulled the boy closer to his side in response just as M'gann finished reading Artemis' mind with a hushed gasp. Conner looked over along with Dick, both waiting for her to speak. M'gann glanced unsurely between the two, shaking her head.

"Wally he . . . he isn't himself. He said some cruel things to her Nightwing I-I mean—"

Conner's rage hit its peak as he let go of Gar and started stomping over towards Wally's room; M'gann stopping and running over to stop him. "Conner stop!"

"I'm going to get in there and kick his ass!"

Dick knew the whole original team was protective of one another as they all acted like family now a days. Bart moved back over next to Jamie, taking a seat as he figured it was the best way to not get involved in a shouting match. Dick looked from the shouting match between his two teammates and then back down to Artemis but then a cool hand on his shoulder made him jump. He turned to see Zatanna standing there, her lips pulled in a tight frown. "What happened Boy Wonder?"

He shook his head, "Wally did something and now Artemis is . . . "

Dick glanced downwards to show his point and Zatanna understood his message as she worked on getting a worked up Artemis to release the death hold she had on his shirt. "Come on Artemis, it's alright. We can go and relax in Nightwing's old room." It took the girl a few moments but she was able to gather Artemis in her arms and allow Dick to move freely.

He sent Zatanna a small smile, "Thanks." He leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to her lips, removing his lips faster than she could blink.

"Boy Wonder you've only gotten better since our last hookup," Dick smirked as he turned and moved towards M'gann and Conner's still fighting forms.

"I've had a lot of practice Zee, did you know girls love my 'whelming body'?" She let out a small chuckle after his husky words, turning and slowly walking Artemis towards the team's room quarters.

"Let me through M'gann so help—"

"Conner stop it you don't know what he's been through!"

"And you do?"

Dick stood between the two, hands raised. "Stop it both of you. I'm going to head in and see what's up. Kid Idiot is probably high right now." The room went silent as the rest of the team watched Dick disappear into the hallway of room and the man hoped he could fix this.

* * *

i never realized i was spread too thin

* * *

Dick opened the door to Wally's room slowly, the latter lifting his head and looking back down again once he saw his friend. Dick smiled gently, moving into the room and trying to figure out how to start a conversation. He knew it would be smart not to bring up Artemis, as to not set Wally off again.

"Hey Wall-Man, how are you holding up?" Wally shrugged, barely looking at Dick for the most part.

"Alright." He took a seat in the chair pulled up next to his bed after a second and then quietness followed them until Dick decided to break it again.

Wally looked down at his hands and Dick cracked a smile, "Now we both have matching battle scars I guess—"

"How can you joke about this Dick?" Wally's voice was low and sour, causing Dick to do a double take.

"Dude, it's over now. The only thing we can do is joke about it."

Wally barely glanced at his brother, "It's over?" He questioned darkly, not giving Dick time to formulate a response, "Shit I guess I missed my stop." He didn't like the dead tone Wally's voice had, or the chills that ran down his spine at Wally's heartless words.

Something more had happened to his friend, "Dude—"

"When does it ever end Dick? Are you just stuck in this place forever?" He spat and Dick felt his heart contract.

He knew what feeling his friend was talking about, that gut wrenching feeling afterwards that told something was wrong with your body. The feeling that someone was watching you from behind constantly, that a hand was about to grab you from behind and tug you into the darkness awaiting you. Dick still had that feeling sometimes, like when he was thrown into his new feats of anxiety attacks. Or PTSD, whatever Artemis had said he had.

He sighed sensitively, "Wally I know that feeling. I live with fighting it every day alright? That's why your girlfriend and you refused to let me live on my own? Wally . . . I went through the same thing."

"No you didn't!" Wally snapped, causing Dick to flinch unknowingly, he looked at his friend through disbelieving eyes.

"Wally—"

"You didn't go through _half_ the fucking shit that man put me through Dick. He did worse to me because of my _speed_. Do you understand how degrading that is?" Dick opened and closed his mouth but no words escaped to which Wally snorted to. "You will never understand."

"Wally that isn't true, we've been through—"

"You've been through less okay. Less Dick." Immobility consumed them and Dick felt horrible—if only they could've found him faster, if only they could of saved him before the man was able to put Wally though such unjustified methods. He wrung his hands, fingers scrabbling over one another and the steady beep of Wally's heart monitor was enough to send the two into an uncanny abyss.

"I-I'm sorry KF, I am. After what happened to me I was so determined to make sure I would never be caught in such a scenario again and I just lost my roots. My concern should've been protecting you guys."

Wally knew Dick always felt a burden from Bruce and any other time would've acted on it if the world wasn't currently spinning around him; if the world hadn't thrown him to a crazed madman to be picked apart for scraps.

"Yeah," A small part of Wally knew what his next words would be and then another part of him thought something completely different was going to come out. In the end, Wally knew later on he would regret his words—he would—but so much had happened to him that his mind was working on an odious overdrive. "You should've."

Then his mouth moved without permission and a scream was trying to claw its way out of the throat but instead more muddled words tumbled out. "You are always trying to avenge someone or protect something. Is that to make up for what happened to your parents? You feel that if you had been able to do something they would still be alive but you failed. Just like you did with me. You failed in protecting me too."

Wally watched curiously as Dick's face went from being alive with sparks of life to becoming dead with no emotion locked in his obs. He could even swear there was a flicker of abhorrence, a ghost of a grimace trying to break its way across his lips. Wally's heart felt like it was being jerked in five different directions but _so_ much malice had filled him by now that all he could do was spit out painful words; trying to break his friend down.

As screwed up as it was, he wanted Dick to feel how he felt—to be pushed down so much that it was impossible to stand back up again.

"So who are you going to fail next Dick? Gonna let the Joker break out of the Arkham Asylum and carve a wicked smile on Bruce's face? Are you gonna stay by and watch as Sportsmaster breaks out of prison and chokes Artemis before you?" He could see Dick visually pale, the aura of the room grew darker and darker as the seconds passed.

"Wally, stop." His usually mysterious voice was deep and aimed in a warning tone but Wally just chuckled.

"Little Dickie allowed another friend to die." Dick's fists clenched in his lap, fingernails digging into his pulled skin.

"You don't mean any of this man, please stop before you go too far." Dick was nearly pleading to Wally but the red head seemed to ignore it. The scar on Dick's arm burned softly. "KF—"

"All those guys are right you know; you are a piece of shit that just strives to be seen in someone else's shadow."

That was the last straw as Dick's eyes widened and his mouth turned upwards in a glower.

"You know better than anyone else that my parents dying was caused by a maniac who could've killed anyone else in the circus but instead took away the only family I had! I always wondered why he didn't just kill me, why he didn't just blow my brains out because that pain would've been easier than the pain I get every time I see Bruce give Tim a hidden smile or Artemis allow Green Arrow to pat her on the back or Aquaman giving Kaldur a look filled with so much damn pride or J'onn giving M'gann a tight hug and a kiss on the forehead after a job well done or Superman giving Conner a nod. Just a simple nod between those two _kills_ me because they can say everything in that nod because they are like father and son now and I will never have that! It kills me when Barry tugs you into a bone-crushing hug and ruffles your hair and says 'great job Kid' after whatever stupid antic you had done to make sure the mission was a success! Bruce will always be my father but he will _never_ be my dad. My dad died when that rope was pulled from under him. You don't know how damn lucky you are to have family. To have parents!"

His voice had raised and he was standing up, his frame soaring over Wally's bedridden form. His blue eyes were trying to burn a hole in Wally through his darkened shades, his fists white from the pressure of holding himself back from socking Wally across the face.

"You still failed Dick! Your parents would still be alive if you were able to protect them! But they are dead because you just watched them fall!" Wally's heart monitor sped up with his newfound rage, the beeps escalating in timing and volume.

Neither man cared as Dick let out a roar of anger, "I was a kid! I was a little kid who could only watch as his parent's bodies fell to the ground in front of him! Every year, every damn year, on the anniversary of their death I climb to the tallest building in Gotham and jump off just to try and understand how they felt—to understand what it was like to see the world below you slowly get closer and closer with nothing to catch you—to know that death is coming and that it's gonna hurt! But I can never match their feelings, hell I don't know what they felt like! I saw my mom's eyes fill with fear as she tried to reach for my dad, just so that she would have someone to hold onto, I saw my dad glance at me and then send me a _smile_. A smile."

Wally shook his head, "If you want to know how death feels then go through with it!"

Dick's eyes narrowed into slits, "At least I'm not some Flash wanna-be who acts like an asshole to anyone that cares about him!"

"At least my parents didn't die because of me!" Wally shouted, just as Barry and Bruce ran in from the doorway, Bruce immediately heading over to Wally's heart monitor to make sure he was okay.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What is going on here?" Barry questioned, positioning his body so that he was acting as a barrier between Dick and Wally. Bruce moved away from Wally's heart monitor after seeing that he had just worked himself up, moving towards his former protégé.

"Nightwing," He placed a hand on Dick's shoulder but he shoved Bruce's touch off him; moving towards the doorway.

"Don't touch me."

Barry looked to Wally, "What were you two shouting about? You shot up your blood pressure to damn well near over two hundred Kid! Nearly gave yourself a heart attack with all of the meds you're on." Wally said nothing and instead glared at Dick, who didn't even bother acknowledging the look Wally was giving him.

Bruce spoke up again, "Either you tell us now or I'll go and bring J'onn in here to read _everything_ in your minds." He warned firmly and both young adults in the room knew he wasn't playing around. When neither made a sound Bruce made a movement to go and walk out of the room and that's when Wally spoke.

"Dick and I were just having a heart to heart about some things."

Bruce looked unamused, "No civilian IDs are to be mentioned when in a public area Kid Flash."

He scoffed, "What's the worst that could happen, the team could find out he killed his own—"

Dick lunged for Wally, Bruce grabbing him by the shoulders and shoving him backwards; Dick's back hitting the doorframe with a muffled thud. Barry grabbed Wally's arms to keep him from competing his movement of trying to stand up and meet Dick in a punch, Wally growling at his uncle stopping him in his tracks.

"Let me go,"

Barry chuckled weakly, "Calm down Kid, just calm down."

Bruce meanwhile held down Dick as he tried to struggle out of his hold, the older man giving him a glare. "Stand down Nightwing,"

"Can't even use my real name Bruce?"

"We can't risk anyone hearing so stand down before I have to use force." He muttered, shoving Dick gently into the doorframe again before releasing him. Barry let go of Wally at the same time and as Dick turned to stalk out of the room he didn't miss Wally's final comment.

"You are just a _joke_ Dick! Remember that word written on your fucking arm?" Before Barry or Bruce could slap their hand over Wally's mouth, he was able to say it. "You _are_ fucking exposed! You are a piece of shit! You are _nothing_!"

The word 'exposed' carved into Dick's arm throbbed at the mention and Wally grinned to himself when he heard the sound of Dick hitting something off a bookshelf; Bruce exiting the room shortly after. Barry rubbed his temple, wondering where exactly Wally had gone. "Jesus Kid, you really just hurt him."

Wally shrugged, "I know."

* * *

'til it was too late and i was empty within

* * *

Artemis and Dick entered their apartment soundlessly, Brucely meeting them with a wagging tail at the door. Dick ran his hand through the fur on the dog's back before heading into his room to get changed, while Artemis took a seat next to the dog and smiled when his wet nose poked her in the cheek.

"Hey Bruce," she muttered, the dog licking her and then whining. She knew he was wondering where Wally was and the mere thought of him caused her stomach to do flips.

"Wally isn't home yet and I don't know if he ever will be boy," Brucely licked each of her fingers before Artemis stood up and walked down the hallway; opening the door to her room and flicking on the light.

The bed was still dismayed from the night before where she had tossed and turned for hours, the curtains half opened, Wally's dirty clothes in a small heap in the left corner and picture of the team half falling off the nightstand in the doorway. Artemis lingered in the doorway, Brucely's bulky form leaning against her right leg. She shuffled into the room after a minute, closing the door behind her before Brucely could shove his fat ass in the room.

She slowly walked over to the closet; picking out some clothes to wear. She settled on a grey tank top and an old pair of Wally's white stripped sports sweats. She stripped out of her tee-shirt and shorts within a second, only able to throw on her sweats before Brucely scratched longingly at the door.

"Shut the hell up Brucely!" She shouted before moving over to the mirror in the right side of the room to just take a look at herself.

The tank top clutched in her hands was crushed into a tight ball, her ashen colored bra brighter than her skin color in that moment, her eyes bloodshot from crying so much with Zatanna, face blotchy and pastel with the aftermath of everything that had happened in that day. Brucely barked from outside the door just as she heard a knock and Dick's gentle voice.

"Art? You okay in there?" She didn't realize she was crying until she could fell the wetness on the bare skin of her shoulders, until she saw the running tracks down her cheeks. Her tongue felt like lead in her mouth, teeth like a meat grinder; she wasn't able to get any words out.

Dick knocked again but it was lost on her ears and she wondered if she was okay or if she wasn't.

"Artemis come on, answer me so I know you're okay." There was an edge to his voice and a sob escaped her at the thought that Wally would get that same protective edge when they were in battle or when a nightmare would grab hold of her. But apparently, Wally wasn't there.

He was still locked away someplace, buried and forgotten under the new guy that had took over his body.

Did he even love her anymore, as pitiful as it sounded? "Artemis?" She hated crying. Back when she was little, if her father would catch her or her sister crying he would pound them to a plump—talking about how crying was just another weakness.

She would be lying if she said that didn't always hang over her and it took Wally a million words of assurance that it was okay to cry; because the strongest people just cried after not being able to hold anything else in.

Now, here she was—blubbering and moping to the cold air before her. Sportsmaster would've kicked her in the ribs by now. "I'm coming in,"

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the door opened and Brucely took a flying leap to her bed—landing surprisingly perfectly next to the barricade of fluffy pillows—and Dick's worried form in the doorway. She could see his emotions clearly through the mirror she was still glaring at, the insecure color draining from his face.

He was clad in a forest green type of V-neck along with some dark blue ripped jeans and his hands were stuffed doubtfully in his pockets.

"Art?" He whispered after a tense minute, the girl shaking her head as she watched his reaction in the glass.

"He's gone Dick." When she muttered those three words Dick understood the secret cry for help hidden within and walked towards her, his hands covering her own from behind. Without a word he gently unclasped her vice-like grip on the tank top, helping her slip it over her head before moving her by her shoulders so she could face him.

"He's still in there somewhere Art, we just have to find him."

He wiped the new tears cascading down her face, catching the droplets with his thumb. "How do you know that Dick?" He sighed, opening his arms so she could fall into his chest and his arms snaked around her—holding her tight. She grabbed onto the back of the material of his shirt, relishing in the fact that someone was still there for her.

"I've known KF for years, he's hot tempered you know. But the one thing I've learned is that he always comes back after a little while."

"He says we left him to die Dick but we didn't. We searched hell and high water every dam second to find him!" He rubbed her back, shushing her. He had dated enough girls to know how to handle a distraught one. "I searched every damn second to find him."

"It's okay Artemis, he's gone through hell. He has a right to be mad?"

She scoffed, "But why is it directed at the people he loves?" Dick squeezed his eyes shut, ignoring the headache coming on from the onslaught of memories hitting him.

"Because he doesn't know how else to handle it."

* * *

hungry, feeding on chaos and living in sin

* * *

"The team is still waiting to see you Kid," his uncle mumbles gruffly from the doorway after Wally doesn't know how long and Wally rolls his eyes in a childish matter.

"Why would they care?" Barry's eyes narrowed into slots from behind his cowl and Wally felt a burning sensation in his blood. Not the right words to use in that moment superficially.

"Stop doing that Wally, everyone was lost with you missing." Wally stayed silent, Barry letting out an overpowered exhale. "Look, can you at least let Bart come and see you? The kid's been worried sick about you."

Wally nodded after a minute, Barry looking slightly relieved. In a matter of spilt seconds Barry was out of the room and Bart was standing by Wally's bed; reaching hopelessly for the older speedster's hand. Wally took notice of the boy's slightly jittery movements and calmed him by reaching for his hand, holding it tightly. "S'right here bud," he muttered, Bart laughing shortly.

"I missed you Wally." Wally grinned at the young boy, feeling his heart lift for some reason. He might've hated the world but how could he hate little Bart? He was too innocent for all of this.

"So I've heard. Missed your big bro?" Bart moved closer to Wally's bed, nodding wordlessly. Wally saw the tears when they started dripping down his face.

Drop.

One.

Drip.

Two.

They puddle in a damp pile on his thin hospital blanket and Wally wants to stop the wet menaces before they become a mountain. "Hey, hey—what're you crying for?"

"I-I just m-m—issed y-you." He hiccupped which threw Wally into motion as he sat up with a quick grunt and pulled on the boy's arm, signaling for him to climb into Wally's bed which the younger boy did skillfully as to not disturb the wires around them. Wally wrapped his arms around Bart, resting his chin in the boy's barren strains of hair.

Bart grabbed at Wally's gown, holding on snug. "It's all okay bud, I'm right here."

The only thing that could run through Wally's mind was when he had held Dick in a similar hug after he had been rescued—after he had been through the same torturous experience.

* * *

downward spiral, where do i begin?

* * *

It takes a few hours of struggling but Dick is finally able to get Artemis to fall asleep curled up next to Brucely on her and Wally's bed after a while; and he sneaks out into the living room to meet the black screen of the television.

Visons flash in the blank space—Sportsmaster's twisted face, the man's jacked up features, the knifes, the pain—Dick feel dizzy.

There's a tap on the door and he walks over to answer it, glancing through the peep hole before opening the door wide. The clock behind him strikes twelve at night once he lets a rain soaked Bruce Wayne into his apartment, dressed in his casual civvies for once.

The irony is poetic, almost.

They don't speak as they take a seat next to one another on the couch and they don't speak as Dick reaches for the remote and turns on Cartoon Network for background noise. Some superhero spinoff show is on, the sidekicks battling their mentors in an odd war of some sort. Dick barely pays enough attention to guess the ending (a habit of his) before Bruce breaks the tranquil peace around them.

"Artemis?" He questions brusquely, Dick tilting his head towards her now closed bedroom door.

"Asleep."

They both take in the silence eagerly once again, as it had always been the one thing they understood about the other, how neither liked too much noise. It reminded Bruce too much of the gunshots as his parents fell to the ground and Dick didn't like how noise had too close of a resemblance to the cheers of the crowd from back when he was in the circus.

Shadows and silence was just their thing. Always would be.

* * *

searching to find a love upon a higher level

* * *

"Wally was out of line earlier today,"

Dick nodded his head, "I know." Bruce sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Are you okay Dick? With all that he said?"

The man in question shrugged his shoulder, not too sure of the answer himself. "I don't know."

Silence. Bruce clearing his throat. The sidekicks taking down their mentors. Kissing at the chime of New Years. Suddenly, Bruce's large hand clamped down kindly on Dick's shoulder in an act of support. In a way of saying 'good job kid' without having to stumble through the letters as he always ended up doing.

Dick smiled and Bruce chuckled softly to himself, pulling Dick close.

"You did great son." He muttered curtly, Dick laughing at his Batman way of saying that he did love him.

"I love you too you big old asshole." Dick answered after a minute and Bruce in that moment knew he would always have family. That he would always have a son.

* * *

finding nothing but questions and devils

* * *

"Add the blood into this beaker, cross breed the speedster's blood with my own and then cross it with that of a loin for strength and that of a snake for the poison to work it's way in to add to the mix of healing and the cure should become a greenish color and then when I inject it—"

 _Ron please. Save me. Don't allow me to die in this inferno!_

He growled lowly, "Quiet Mother!" Aeron Hyades seethed, releasing the glass bottle in his hand and smacking at his forehead. "You told Father to get me out first so you must live with your decision!"

 _Save me my darling, save me. Save me. Save me._

Aeron yanked at his hair, tugging and pulling and hoping the pain would make her shut _up_. She had screamed to his father, 'save the boy, save my son' instead of going back to get to her.

She knew the risks.

She knew the chances of her survival!

She knew it wouldn't have been possible for Father to get back to her in time.

 _Save me. The flames are licking at my skin Ron, save me! Don't let these fiery demons get to me!_

"Silence!" He roared, body shaking and fingers numb, as he struggled with gathering all of the liquids into one glass bottle for him to pour into a needle stem. Wallace's blood was the key to everything and it would cause the cure to _work_. It would work and the crawling in his arms would stop and his mother's voice would stop screaming so damn loud in his head and his ears would no longer ring and his body would no longer be marred and he would be so handsome and so brand new. He would be normal.

 _Darling their teeth are on my skin! Aeron they are attacking me! Aeron, my sweet dear, help me!_

His teeth were clattering and his body was a million degrees as he fumbled with pouring the cure into the needle that would inject it into his system. Were flames scratching at his ankles? Damn it was that the bugs in his arms again?

 _Save me! Oh dear Lord save me my baby! Ron! Save me . . ._

"Shut up Mother! You knew you were going to die and you wanted it to h-happen! So stop talking!" Without any more thought he pulled his sleeve up and slammed the needle into the boldest vein his eyes could find, squeezing the trigger and he groaned as he felt the cure surge through his veins.

* * *

i can't go on living this way

* * *

M'gann and Gar are with Wally playing a cautious game of mind tic-tac-toe when Wally's eyes widen as a forceful name comes to mind. "Aeron Hyades!"

M'gann glances up at him, confused, "Is this the meds talking Wally?"

He shakes his head rapidly, "No go find Nightwing or Batman or Robin or Batgirl! I need them to search it on the cave computer! It's the name of the man!" M'gann's eyes furrow until the message seems to slap her across the face.

"The man who . . .?"

"Yes."

Gar and her hurry off in search of one of the hacking members of the bat clan, Wally's brain going a mile a minute. If he had the name they could nail this dude for all of the crap he had put them through. The nightmare would be over by then.

* * *

nothing's alright, nothing is fine

* * *

"Son?" The man stumbles into a half alive experiment room, the wall on the other side of the room replaced by a gaping hole in the wall. "Son? Aeron!"

There's a whoosh sound behind him and the man flips around to see his son before him, completely the same yet completely different.

"That isn't my name anymore Father."

The smirk on his lips is threatening.

* * *

i'm running and i'm crying

* * *

Tim runs into Wally's room, eyes alert and ready for anything. "Where's Dick?" Wally asked bluntly, having figured the hacker king of all hackers would've been the one to show up.

Tim shook his head, "No idea. Bats said he didn't know either but not to worry."

Wally sighed angrily, "Alright just go to the cave computer and search anything and everything relating to the name Aeron Hyades. You got it?"

Tim nodded eagerly, hurrying off.

A ball of guilt sat in the pit of Wally's stomach.

Something wasn't right.

Why did he feel like he was missing something?

* * *

can't go on, living this way, nothing's alright

* * *

"Father, you can now call me . . . Victory. _Poetic_ , isn't it?" He spat, the man nodding his head.

"Victory, someone just tried searching up your name. It gave us the location of what I believe is the cave hideout for the Young Justice League."

Aeron grinned, "Tracer worked like a charm huh? I knew Wallace would forget about that part. Everything is going as planned." Aeron glanced back over at his father, "Hack the database. Get me all of the information on every damned kid in that place so we know what we put our subjects up against when he take them back."


	4. four

**_This_** **chapter contains:**

Spoilers: Season 1 plus Season 2

Random Lyrics from: My Heart is a Fist by Papa Roach

Pairings: Angst-filled Spitfire, Angst-filled Chalant, along with Dick and Wally brotherly friendship

Extra Notes: We learn some more about Aeron Hyades in this chapter, though the next will show what exactly he turned into. This is one heck of a chapter so just a warning, your emotions may run high. As for the cliffhanger ending—just remember that all is not what it seems. This _is_ going to be a ten chapter story. Thank you for all of the favorites, follows and reviews and I hope you all enjoy! :D

 _This_ chapter is **rated teen for** some sexual situations, romance pieces, a good amount of coarse language, hints towards torture, violence and creepy moments (from who else but Mister Hyades).

* * *

i surrender

* * *

"Be careful this is the first time you've stood on your own in months."

"I'm okay,"

"Here just let me—"

"Impulse."

Wally cuts the younger boy off with a curt voice, using his superhero atlas because he knows he won't be taunted in ignoring it. Bart gains a sheepish smile on his face as he releases the hold he had on Wally's forearm, taking a step back. Wally exhales and looks around, hearing an owl hoot from somewhere inside of the forest.

The creamy white moon was full in the distant sky, millions of little balls of gas seemingly watching the two speedsters below with all knowing eyes. There's a small breeze floating through the cool evening air and it causes leaves to crackle and the trees to howl as it swims through their hallow pieces of cracked bark and broken branches.

Wally is standing on his own, only wobbling for a short couple of moments before steading himself, Bart is by his side. The two are in the spooky forests outlying Mount Justice all around and Wally had successfully scared Bart at least twenty times by now.

"Wally? You good?"

Wally exhaled and nodded once before staring ahead of him, taking in the roots and tunnels and the feel of dirt with pebbles intertwined below his feet. He felt his body take off, and seemed to be outside of the event as he ran circles around the forest, zipping and zooming through every little nook and cranny he could find. Bart watched happily from his spot, cheering when the man would run past him and tap him on the shoulder.

He was laughing giddily when Wally stopped next to him, breathing heavily and a large grin slapped over his lips. He high fived Bart, feeling like he was on top of the world. "How are you feeling Wally?" The man in question shook his head, reaching for the candy bar Bart had stored in his pocket.

"I feel great."

He did his best to ignore the nagging in the back of his mind, the voice that was telling him that it wasn't right that Dick and Artemis weren't there. Not like they would've been awake, Wally thought feebly, it was close to three in the morning.

Over the course of two months, different members of the team would stay overnight with Wally—excluding Dick, Artemis and Bruce—to keep an eye on him while he recovered. It took a while but Wally did slowly get better and his attitude had nearly gotten back to the standpoint it was at back before he had gotten captured (he had successfully flirted with Barbara, M'gann and Cassie) but he hadn't seen Dick or Artemis since that first day.

Barry had kept his distance too, he had only stayed with Wally for about a week in total over the course of two months. He downed the candy bar and tugged Bart into a side hug, laughing loudly. "Thanks for coming out here with me little bro," Bart struggled to shove Wally's grip off him but he did it in a playful matter as Wally in turn ruffled his hair.

"Wally," he lamented in discrepancy, the older man in turn laughing even more gleefully. He was already starting to miss the bedridden, quiet Wally that had been around for the past few weeks. But at the same time he was glad his brother was back to normal. "Let's just go back inside before Uncle Barry finds out I let you out of the cave." Bart grumbled as he turned towards the open hangar door.

"Race ya!" Wally shouted before taking off, Bart yelling in protest before speeding after him.

Wally's sped up healing at caused his recovery to be faster than Dick's had been; but mental wise—Dick was probably more stable at the moment. Wally felt his mind was spilt in two most of the time; one side yearning to run to his girlfriend (was she even his girlfriend anymore?) and best friend (did Dick even remember him?) and beg for forgiveness while another part of him still didn't care.

Both made it back into the main center of the cave, closing up the hangar door before heading back to Wally's old room (newly refurbished by the speedsters being bored around midnight two weeks ago) and returning to lounging around.

Wally's mind shot to Artemis. Did she hate him? He would guess so, after all that he had said. How could she not? And Dick, he probably despised Wally after everything the man had shouted. After mentioning the word carved in his arm for life.

He looked up and saw Bart messing with one of his old souvenirs, grinning. "If you think that stuff is cool, I've got a badass militia helmet back at Dick's apartment. It looks like it came directly out of one of the Star Wars movies."

Bart's eyes lit up, "Can I see it?"

Wally nodded soundlessly, "Yeah I can go stop by there tomorrow morning before Bats gets here for my routine checkup in the afternoon."

"Awesome! How did you end up getting the helmet in the first place?" He acted like as if he was thinking of the answer for a moment, seeing the excitement rise on Bart's face as the seconds passed by.

God, he did love this kid like his own; not like he would ever have his own, he was too immature still (Artemis had scared the shit out of him at least four times with faking pregnancy scares—apparently the horrified face he gets is hilarious).

"Artemis, Kaldur and I were out on an undercover mission back three years ago. We were supposed to just do recon because the Justice League got an anonymous hint about a drug deal going down between Two Face's gang and the Penguin's in the outskirts of Gotham City. Batman and Robin, Dick at the time, were out with Uncle Barry on a mission in Florida. We got there and there were three thugs on lookout with snipers so we took them out and the one I knocked out had a pretty badass helmet so I hid the body and then when the mission was over I went back and got the helmet. I still remember clear as day the look Artemis had on her face. You could just tell how bad she wanted to slap me."

"Why don't we ever get to go on fun missions like that?"

Wally laughed, "Well for one thing, you guys actually obey the rules. Let's just say the old team wasn't too keen on listening to everything Batman assigned us." As Bart started talking a mile per minute about how 'awesome his big bro was', Wally thought otherwise.

He wasn't ready to face Artemis or Dick. But how could he avoid it? Unless he could get over there around five, that's when Dick would still be gone on his night patrol (he would go out around midnight and then get back around seven in the morning, sleeping until whatever time someone would wake him up). He would just have to sneak past Artemis and then get to their closet; pull out the helmet and that would be that.

Easy enough right?

* * *

i know i've been a pretender

* * *

Easy did mean easy after all.

Wally had left Mount Justice at quarter to six and he had just gotten into Dick's apartment, so _extremely_ grateful that had had ignored Dick's nagging and hadn't gotten around to fixing the medium sized hole in the kitchen window that allowed easy access into the house by someone jimmying it open from the outside.

Wally wanted to leave at the strike of four thirty but Bart hadn't gotten settled into sleep until 5:29 exactly so it pushed back the amount of time he had at finding the helmet but he was a speedster—in and out was his middle name.

He closed the window behind him quietly, turning and standing still for a minute so his eyes could adjust to the pitch black of the kitchen. One his eyes had adjusted, he turned his head to the soft sound of snorting to the right of him and saw the outline of Brucely's sleeping form on the couch; his snores like an earthquake in the otherwise silent apartment.

Wally rolled his eyes, he knew the damn dog was stubborn but he was pit bill for crying out loud, weren't they supposed to be amazing guard dogs? Leave it to Artemis and him to pick out the one dog that had deceptively missed the gene that every other dog had; to hear and bark at intruders.

He took gentle steps as he headed towards the hallway, making sure he sidestepped the trap Dick had attached to his door (ironically put there for trespassers) as he opened it and peaked in; breathing an inaudible sigh of relief when he saw the man was still out patrolling the Blüdhaven alleyways. He backed out of Dick's room, sucking in a breath as he entered his room.

He could see his girlfriend sound asleep in their bed, the blanket wrapped around her tightly like a snake, stopping just above her chest. She was one of his shirts, he could tell by the frayed edges at the shoulders and the boyish color of the material; just from the velvety colors of the moon seeping in through the closed curtains of the window. Her hair was like a halo framing her face, eyelashes flinching every here and there from whatever thing she was dreaming off. Wally felt at peace watching Artemis sleep, as he had done it countless times before ("Stay awake until I fall asleep?" she would mutter and he would throw his arms around her and peck her lightly on the forehead before whispering an "Always babe,").

Everything was fine, until a sudden scream tore from her throat and Wally froze in shock, thinking she had saw him standing over her like a stalker and was about to kill him—until he noticed her eyes still closed and her body thrashing around in the confinements of the blanket around her.

He doesn't know what causes him to do it but he jumps into action, smoothing her hair down and brushing his thumbs against her cheekbones softly. "Babe, babe it's alright. It's just a dream baby, you're okay."

He knows he doesn't need to fear about her waking up, as she is one of those people that when she has a nightmare a few calming words will somehow break through to her within her dream and calm her down; no waking up necessary unless he coaxes her awake somehow.

"No! Wally! Dad how could you?" It's in a sort of waver when she speaks but it's like a deafening shout in his ears. She was dreaming about her father hurting him? After all he had said to her? He shakes off the thoughts circling him and moves even closer to her so he can press his lips to multiple sections of her face.

"Come back to me Artemis. It's just a dream, your fine. You're okay. Kid Flash is always gonna be here to protect you. I'm always going to be here to protect you baby."

He doesn't know where his voice is coming from but it's coming from him and in a matter of seconds she stops struggling and her body relaxes and he knows she's out of her nightmare. He stares at her for another moment until her remembers why he is there and backs up, about to head towards the closet until he sees something that catches his eye.

On the right side of the bed, the empty side of the bed as Artemis was always a lefty bed type, on the nightstand that was his—sat a family picture of Dick and his parents. It feels like someone has just punched him in the gut as his eyes dart over to the empty side of the bed, seeing the indent of a person's body still there. He wonders just how bad his girlfriend's nightmares truly are as he pieces everything together.

Dick had temporary 'moved' himself into Artemis' room, sitting next to her as her anchor (what Wally was supposed to be) until she fell asleep, and then being there to help her through her (surprisingly frequent) nightmares because Wally. Wasn't. There.

It broke his heart and he felt one of his own tears leak from his eye and dampen his ski mask.

He was such a shitty person.

Artemis didn't deserve him.

He didn't deserve her.

Wally's heart started to race as the emotions suddenly clouded around him and he shook his head. What was he here for again? The helmet! Without another thought he turned towards the closet and soundlessly opened it, straining his eyes to see in the darkness. Where in the hell did he stick that damn helmet anyway? Wally didn't have much time to ponder the answer as a sudden sharpness was shoved starkly into his back as a short warning.

"Freeze."

He let out a low curse, which in turn only caused Artemis to thrust the arrow more harshly into his spinal cord. Okay so in hindsight it probably wasn't smart to wear a black ski mask with a black sweatshirt and black sweatpants but at the time he thought it was the best way to not be seen by anyone as he ran through a few cities. He couldn't find his Kid Flash outfit anywhere in the cave, Barry had probably hid it knowing that Wally would attempt to sneak out and run once he felt better, so his next best choice was something unnoticeable.

What he didn't add into his plan was Artemis' somehow super hearing . . . and the sharpened end of one of her arrows jammed into his spine.

"You are going to turn around slowly and not make a sound while I pull off your mask. If you move to attack or speak this arrow is piercing your skull. Nod if you understand." On second thought, Wally thought glumly, if he hadn't worn all black and Artemis had saw it was him she possibly would've impaled him by now. He nodded once and felt her remove the arrow from his back, her hand grabbing ahold of his left bicep and spinning him around so his front faced her.

He felt as if the breath had been knocked out of him after seeing her fully for the first time in the light and he didn't know if it was wrong that he was turned on or not. She had flicked on the nightlight by the bed, the dim light causing everything in the room to gain a yellowish tint to it. The light flickered every few seconds, probably from the bulb about to go out, and it caused Artemis to look like an angel in Wally's eyes.

Her hair was slightly frizzy, silver eyes ablaze with a fire that burned brightly, lips pursed and a red mark smeared from the way she slept on the mattress present on the corner of her chin. She had the green arrow clutched tightly in her right hand with the point aimed at Wally's neck and he gulped loudly once he saw what she was wearing or, really, wasn't wearing. He could tell he she had on a bra and underwear, just from the curves of her body through his sole tee shirt (he had been with her for five years of course) but she wasn't wearing any bottom half to her clothing getup and he was glad his old tee shirt stretched down to the tip of her knees because he knew that if it would've been any shorter he would've been at her mercy; fight or no fight.

She lifted her empty hand and moved it slowly towards his face, terrified of something he couldn't see, and her fingers trailed up to the top of his ski mask and waited there for a moment. His heart thudded heavily in his ears and it seemed like hours passed before she finally pulled. Wally's mask came off in one quick yank and she gasped once she saw his red hair and undeniable freckles.

The arrow slipped from her finger tips and hit the carpeted floor below them with a soft clang.

Wally scoffed mentally at the fact that through all of this Brucely was still dead asleep on the couch in the living room. His tongue seemed to turn to sand and his throat encased with cement. Artemis got over her shock fast, as it didn't seem like Wally would be able to say anything soon from the stone-like posture he had taken.

"W-What are you doing here?" He didn't seem to hear her and any other time Artemis would've felt good about how she seemed to render him speechless with her apparel, the way his eyes kept scurrying from the bottom of her shirt to the specks of her irises. She crossed her arms, trying to cover herself because for some odd reason she felt bare even if this was the same man she had fallen deeply in love with. "What in the hell are you doing here Wally?"

The use of his name seemed to snap him out of his mind's musings, even if it was for a second. "I um," he cleared his throat, "the helmet. I told Bart about that badass helmet I stole from one of Two Face's men and he wanted to see it. Said I would get it."

She _hated_ how his rough voice sent chills down her spine. Damn it she hated it.

She was supposed to be mad at him. She was supposed to hate him. Artemis found herself nodding, rubbing her arms from the unexpected nippy chill that swept through the room. Wally without second thought started to move towards her, ready to pull her into his arms because he knew how much she loved the 'constant warmth she always found from his body'.

"What are you doing?" He froze, dropping his lifted hand back down to his side. She had that defensive wall around her, the same one he had spent years trying to break down.

"Your cold." He said it as a statement and Artemis glanced into his green eyes, trying to read him.

"So?" She questioned bullheadedly, Wally gaining a trace of a smirk on his face before it disappeared again.

"So we can't have you being cold when you got a speedster around."

Artemis shook her head, "Wally." It was a warning, he knew it was. It was her way of saying that it was his last chance. Either he crossed the line or turned around and hopped the fence.

Wally took a step forwards, reaching for one of her hands. "Art," he grabbed her hand and rubbed it between his, trying to rid it of the coldness consuming her; "babe."

"Wally, please. You can't break my heart again. I can't do that again." Her tone was low and in a hushed whisper, so discreet that he strained his ears to hear it. He let go of her hand, moving his up to cup her face.

"I'm sorry babe. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry." Artemis tried to pull her head out of Wally's grip but he wouldn't let her, determined on not losing her again. "Look at me Artemis."

"If I do that there's no going back." He moved forwards and his lips brushed against hers, pulling back and leaving her wanting more. Her eyes locked with his. "Wally."

He smiled.

"I love you."

Artemis cussed shortly before crashing her lips against his, her arms snaking around his neck. He kissed back with just as much lust, his hands tracing over her waist and lower back. He missed the feel of her skin on his. They took a break for air and Wally lifted her up, Artemis hanging onto his shoulders as he lead them to the bed; both falling onto the ruffled sheets in a mess of limbs. They stared at each other, breathing heavily and trying to control the heat around them but to no success.

"I love you Artemis." He mumbled before pressing a kiss to her neck, lifting his head back up as Artemis cussed again.

"Goddamn it Baywatch." Wally laughed for a good minute before silencing any more comments by pressing his lips to hers once again.

* * *

you can have this guilt this misery i wear so well

* * *

"Thanks for all of your help Alfred, I'm sorry everything ran later than usual."

"It's no problem Master Dick," He sighed and he closed the window to the living room of his apartment, lifting his hand up and tossing his domino mask onto the couch next to wear Brucely slept. The dog simply grunted in his sleep.

"Goodnight Al," Alfred yawned before sending the young man a final smile.

"Goodnight sir."

Dick didn't waste time in closing out his communicator, starting to pull his Nightwing suit off as he headed to the bathroom. It had been a long night. He stretched after stripping and entering the running shower, wincing as the lukewarm water hit one of the new scrapes on his back.

At first it had mostly been petty criminals flaunting their 'so called power' throughout the late nighttime hours and that had evolved into stopping a robbery at the fancy necklace store down on Drayton Street near four in the morning. The real hiccup came around five thirty as he was on his way grappling back to the apartment; a drowsy looking Alfred had called him on his communicator.

The butler debriefed him on a high end deal going down between the Joker and the Blaze—one of Blüdhaven's notorious illegal drug dealing kings who was also in cahoots with Scarecrow on working on some type of fear toxin spinoff with more deadly results.

It took Dick a good hour to scope out the deal and eliminate any men on lookout stealthily and then the real challenge came when he had to face Blaze and the Joker. It was a bloody fight and he nearly gave Alfred a heart attack at some times from close calls but Dick was able to knock out Blaze with good hit to the forehead and then corner Joker and grill him from some answer before grabbing an assault rifle off the ground and using the butt of it to effectively knock him out.

It had taken another two hours to do battle with the two and get some actual answers out of Joker but found that the long night was worth it.

He found out the reason why the Joker was working with Blaze (to try and grab some samples of the fear toxin spinoff and add his own laughing gas into it and see what exactly it did to the human mind) how close Blaze and Scarecrow were to finishing a solid copy of the fear toxin spinoff, nicknamed FTO2 (a finished sample would be in the works on no name thugs in Gotham within two weeks) and which labs of Scarecrow's they were working on the toxin in (1603 Micah Boulevard, New York).

The next few nights would be long ones so he could keep a lookout on everything, unless a mission came up from the League; then he would have to put some of his patrolling on hold and possibly tell Bruce about everything so he could keep half an eye on everything too.

Dick exhaled as he checked and made sure he got all of the blood off his face before tossing on his clothes, boxers and some shorts with his torso bare, and exiting the bathroom. He felt bad about leaving his suit in there because he knew it pissed off Artemis any morning she got up and nearly fell in the bathroom from stepping on the slippery material but he was too exhausted to care at the moment.

He stumbled towards his room but then cussed silently to himself for forgetting to check up on Artemis. He saw the time, 8:13 in the morning, from the digital alarm clock in his room and let out a grunt of disapproval.

Did crime never sleep?

He quietly pushed open Artemis' door and his stomach did a flip at the sight before him, from relief or hate he didn't know.

Wally and Artemis were buried underneath the blanket, Wally's arms wrapped around his girlfriend tightly and his head resting on top of hers. She was snuggled into Wally's bare chest, like as if he was her own personal safe haven. Which, Dick figured, he basically was. He smiled softly at the scene before him, feeling the inner battle rise within him as he gently backed out of the room and closed the door behind him, letting go once he heard the clank of the doorknob.

Dick headed back to his room, too tired to even bother shutting his door, and climbed into bed—mind juggling a million different scenarios. He was happy that Wally was there to prevent Artemis' nightmares; they had been getting worse and worse since that day with the shouting match. So it was great that she had her anchor back, the one guy who could calm her better than Dick ever could.

On the other hand, he knew Wally too well. He could've snuck in to just have sex with her and then be back to ignoring her at the first strike of morning or semi-consciousness. But he was Wally, would he really do that?

Dick had a foolproof plan for when he slept with random girls and he felt like a different person when he would take off his shirt in a heated moment and they would comment on 'how strong he must've been with all of his scars'. Then he would have sex with them and either leave them or be gone by the next day. No emotions met no issues.

But Wally wasn't him.

Dick knew how much the two loved each other, it was sickening sweet. It was their type of love, their world. He shook the thought out of his head, that Wally would sleep with Artemis and then leave her again, because as much as he scorned him still—he knew Wally was still a good man on the inside.

Or at least he hoped. Dick still hurt from Wally's words and he knew they were far from making up but all be cared about was Artemis being safe.

Even if it was from her own nightmares.

* * *

i wave my flag i sound the alarm

* * *

"Wally. Wally, come on you have to get up." There was a light prodding in his side and then a flick on his cheek. Wally groaned, swatting his hands and flipping over so he was laying on his side.

"Go away Bart and let me sleep you little asshole." He muttered, exhaling through his nose.

Someone scoffed next to him, "Well you would just be fantastic with a kid jumping all over you wouldn't you Baywatch?"

Kids? Why in the hell would Bart be talking about kids? Wally's eyes snapped open as he turned so that he was laying on his back again, seeing Artemis leaning on her elbows next to him with an amused smile highlighting her features. "A-Artemis?" He mumbled in an incoherent drawl, rubbing at his eyes and trying to clear up his sleepy, still sluggish, thought process.

She rested a hand on his exposed bicep, "Hey Baywatch, I know it's early and you aren't used to that but you gotta go so that you can be out of here before Dick wakes up." Wally haphazardly placed his one hand over top of Artemis', rubbing delicately.

"W-What . . . what time is it?"

"Around ten but the times Dick gets up in the morning varies so he could either be up in five seconds or five hours."

Wally laughs half-heartily, groaning in gripe. "Long nights out patrolling?" He bit, Artemis smiling.

"Yeah he's been working himself ragged since that fight you two had." Wally feels a pain in his heart that is much like getting stabbed all over again and he slowly sits up, the blanket covering him falling down to reveal his naked upper half.

Artemis hid her blush as Wally started to move out of the bed and searching for his clothes that were thrown all across the floor in a careless matter. She couldn't help but stare at his butt for a moment before snapping herself out of it and calling out to him.

"Baywatch?"

She wanted to laugh at the way he acted like a lost child, hopelessly moving around the room in search for his tee shirt as that now was the only thing missing from his apparel. He barely glanced in her direction, "Yeah babe?"

She didn't know how to word it and the question tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop it in such a sloppy matter she wanted to slap herself. "Wally, this wasn't just a onetime thing right? You aren't gonna avoid me or—"

"Babe." He cut her off gently, lost tee shirt balled up in his hands, as he approached her. His lips attached to hers for a delightful few moments, her lips moving hungrily against his, before he pulled away. There was genuine look upon his face. "I'm not going to leave you again alright? These past two weeks were the worse in my life and it was all my fault. I'm sorry for what I said to you I didn't mean any of it. I love you and only you. You wanted me to wake up and say it back remember?"

She scowled when he brought up the tearful whirlwind he had put her in as he laid on the ground with one foot begging life and one foot teasing death. "You did. That's all that matters." She murmurs, twirling a strain of his red hair in her finger. He chuckles before giving her a light kiss on the forehead and pulling away so he can toss his shirt over his body.

"I don't know if I told you this yet or not Art but last night was amazing."

She flushes heavily and a part of her thinks he said those words on purpose just to see the dark red framing her cheeks. "It was."

Why did she love him so damn much? How was it possible for her to love this damn man so much it hurt to breathe if he wasn't in the same room as her?

"Alright I'm gonna go—"

"When are you going to say sorry to Dick, Wally?" He freezes in place and his heart is trying to escape through his mouth. He might've loved Artemis but Dick was a whole different story. He was still pissed at him and he knew he said a lot of horrible things. But all Dick wanted to do was poke and make jokes after the things Wally had been through— _knowing_ the things he had been through. "Wally he's so lost. You hurt him babe. You need to fix it." Artemis' words are too true . . . but too fake for Wally to understand.

* * *

somebody stop me before i do any harm

* * *

"Hey Robin, what did you end up finding out?" Wally catches Tim two days after his reunion with Artemis chilling in the cave's kitchen munching on one of M'gann's chocolate chips cookies. He jumps out of the seat happily at the mention of his research, moving close to where Wally stands propped up on the counter—trying to break the record for most pizza eaten in a day.

He brings up a holographic screen showing a bunch of digital papers with black lines heavily outlining the entire pages to their full extent.

"With Batgirl's help I was able to hack into international name databases and we literally searched every little thing there was but nothing came up."

Wally nearly choked on the slice of pizza lodged in his mouth but he was able to swallow and then speak, "What do you mean when you say nothing? There has to be something, you can't just hide from NASA or the CIA or whoever had the tabs on everyone." He deadpanned, Tim nodding and tapping a few buttons on his communicator to bring up a new screen that showed a news article dating back to the 1900's.

"So today is March 10th, 2015 right?" Wally nodded, confused as to what the young teenager was hinting at. "Well I found an old news article from November 2nd, 1988 that talks about an accidental gas leak that caused a house fire and killed multiple people. So I dug into the people who died and also of who lived there at the time and everyone checks out, either they are dead or have no access to the materials needed to hold you or Nightwing or too old now to be able to um do what uh—"

"I get it."

"—so anyway, one of the families doesn't check out."

Wally grew intrigued, "How so?" Tim brought up a picture of a smiling family that included one mom, one dad and one son weathered and printed in black and white.

"Eva and Raphael with their son Aeron Victor Hyades."

Wally's stomach rolled but he powered through, Tim was onto something. They needed to find this guy and arrest him. "That's him. So how did he go off the grid? Special Ops military?" Tim pressed a few more buttons, bringing up an awfully gory picture of a mangled body on the side of a street.

Blood was spattered across the ground, smeared in a handprint across the dismembered body's head or what Wally thought was the head to the body. It was so destroyed he couldn't even tell. "If we go back to the fire Aeron would've been nine at the time and what happened was that his mother died, leaving just him and his father. There was speculation that the fire was being covered up, that it wasn't a gas leak and that someone had started it on purpose. Now we go to fifteen years later, where Aeron would be sixteen, to this unsolved murder case. This is from November 3rd, 1995."

Wally put down the pizza in his hand, finding that he wasn't too hungry anymore. "I don't think that isn't coincidence."

Tim shook his head, "This mess is the body of crime boss Marcus Sandon who had been known to use fire as one of his ways to get rid of a potential problem in not giving him the money he asked for. Now the person behind the death of Marcus was never found but there were fingerprints of Aeron's all over his body. Though the police never connected it, they didn't have the technology back in the day and no one has gone back to the case because in almost every nation it doesn't exist. The body's remains disappeared and there's no grave and no case file on record expect for this which was buried in Italy's deep servers. The weird thing is the day before, on November 2nd, all traces of Aeron—literally anything—was completely erased from the system. He's like a ghost Flash."

Wally didn't bother in correcting Tim's usage of his name, embracing it instead and rubbing his eyes.

"So we still don't know who he is or what his goal is? Besides creating a damn cure or whatever?"

Tim nodded wearily, "Wally this seems really serious maybe we should tell the League what we've found."

"No I don't want them—"

Wally cut himself off at the sound of someone running into the kitchen, turning and seeing Gar advancing towards them. "We got a mission! Batman wants us to meet in the main room!"

Wally gave Tim a stern look before they followed Gar out of the room.

* * *

i'm living a dead life i'm staring into the headlights

* * *

Tim, Wally and Gar entered the room to see Dick, Artemis and Bart already standing there; eyes alert and ready. Wally moves over to where Artemis is standing, making sure to stay clear of being anywhere near Dick as he grabbed ahold of his girlfriend's hand and squeezed soothingly. Bruce stood at the cave computer, busying typing something into the system. He didn't turn around as he spoke.

"Superboy, Aqualad and Miss Martian are busy with a mission revolving around Mirror Man and the rest of the new team is busying hunting down the works of Blaze and Scarecrow—as the two are trying to create a new fear toxin which was discovered by Nightwing two nights ago." Dick nodded curtly, Wally rolling his eyes only to receive a pinch on the back of his hand from Artemis.

Bruce turned so that the team could see the seriousness shown through his eyes in the white slots of his cowl and Wally nearly shivered from the hard look he was portraying towards the six of them.

"Kid Flash, we found an odd trace of zeta beam type energy the day after you were recused that came from the place we can assume was where you were held. Does any of this look familiar?" Bruce clicked a few buttons and brought up some different clips from security cameras and Wally watched each feed confidently until one caught his eye.

"That last camera, number twenty three, that's where I was held. That damn room."

Bruce nodded, setting a mark on the feed and picking at a few more buttons. "I'm going to spilt you six into three teams to go three different things and figure out what caused that energy spike."

"But it happened over two months ago why are we investigating it now?" Artemis questioned, glancing from Wally to Bruce. The latter brought up an energy readings chart and everyone's eyes widened at the sight of the spiked readings.

"Constant spiked energy readings every three hours interlacing since the day after Wally was saved."

Dick got a scary thought and tried to look at Wally to question it but Wally was ignoring him. So Dick grabbed Wally by the shoulder and pulled him aside as Bruce started talking again. "Wally are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That you're an ass—"

"The cure. The cure the man was talking about. Do you think that spike in energy is his cure?" Wally didn't want to talk to Dick but the man had a point.

Wally sighed, "But to create something like that he would've had to been a genius. And I don't think he was anywhere close to genius from the way he was talking." Wally turned back to standing next to Artemis before Dick had time to respond and the man exhaled heavily. It just didn't go together, didn't feel right.

He walked back over to join the rest of the group just as Bruce started splitting them into teams.

"Robin and Beast Boy, you two will head to the building overlooking the lab and only advance if help is needed at any time. Artemis and Impulse, you two will check out the front and back of the building, clearing out anyone that could cause a problem." Artemis groaned and Bart laughed, Wally and Dick even smirking to themselves as they already had a good idea of what she was going to say.

"I'm stuck with Mister Hyperactive over here? You've got to be kidding—isn't it torture enough that I already deal with Kid Annoyance back at home?"

Bruce choose not to answer Artemis, turning to the final two unpaired teammates. "Nightwing and Kid Flash, you two will be entering the lab and scoping out the area—"

"Bats c'mon,"

"Batman he's—"

"—the reason I am pairing you two together is because you both should know the place, considering I have a right to believe he held you both there. End of conversation."

Bart looked at his teammates, "Time to suit up?"

Wally smiled, "Time to suit up bud."

Everyone headed out excluding Artemis and Wally. "Are you going to be okay working with Dick?" She whispered, Wally moving close to her and wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug.

"I don't know babe, I don't know."

* * *

of a getaway car that'll take me out of my mind tonight

* * *

Dick groaned as he came to and tried to move his arms, only to find he couldn't. His mind was foggy, his head throbbing. Why did he feel so weird? He struggled with collecting his thoughts and trying to wrench open his eyes, finding both to be way too difficult for him. Why was it so hard to move?

He tried to remember what he was doing before the haze clouded his mind . . . he knew he was on a mission someplace and had been on a team with the one and only Wally. Suddenly everything was clear again and the memories rammed into him like a Mack truck on steroids.

Bruce had sent the team on a mission to find the man who did all of the crap to Wally and him and as soon as they entered the building and were out of sight of the rest of the team Dick had decked Wally in the cheek, leaving a nasty looking bruise behind. They got into another shouting match minutes later that had Bart and Artemis yelling through the ear com to get the two to quiet down and remember they were on an undercover mission.

Their words went unheard and Dick barely remembered Tim, Bart and Artemis saying they were coming in to get them before everything had gone black. A bad feeling eloped his gut and his heart felt like a boulder in his chest.

No, this couldn't be happening again.

He didn't get kidnapped again, this wasn't real.

He opened his eyes with a heavy gasp and saw nothing but grey cement walls and a limp Wally hanging next to him, ankles shackled to the wall in a similar as Dick guessed he was propped up. "No," it left Dick's lips in a hoarse whisper and hadn't wanted to die more than in that moment. He couldn't live through the pain again. He couldn't live through it. He would kill himself before having to have a knife carving into his chest. He wouldn't be able to say it.

"Artemis!"

Wally awoke with a start next to Dick and promptly gone into panic mode, his body trying to vibrate its way out from being connected to the chains. Dick stayed quiet, his mind still trying to wrap around the fact that he allowed himself to get kidnapped _again_. He had gone all of the extra measures to make sure something like this wouldn't happen. He had trained under the Batman for Christ's sake and he couldn't go another year without being kidnapped?

The single steel crusted door in front of them opened and Dick felt his throat go dry at the sight of the man or thing before him. The thing let a wicked smile slip onto his features, "Welcome back boys. I've missed you and I've got a new thing to show you both. Oh and by the way—Wallace, thank you for your help in tracking down where your hideout is located. I knew you would be _far_ too stupid to remember the trace I myself put on my own name."

Wally growled threateningly, "You aren't going to get away with this Hyades."

Dick was glad to be able to finally put a name with the face . . . if that could even be counted as a face at this rate. Aeron was in Wally's face faster than either could blink as he took Wally's face in his hands, roughly pushing his chin so Wally could look him in the eye.

"I go by a new name now Kid, call me anything other and you will be sure to pay for it."

Within a millisecond he was back to standing by the door and Dick's mind grasped the realization quickly, "You're a speedster now."

Aeron turned towards Dick with a bitter grin, "Yes dear boy, I am. You may call me Victory. Fitting isn't it?"

Wally snorted, "For a dumbass maybe."

Dick tried not to flinch as Aeron started throwing punches Wally's way.

* * *

crash and burn s.o.s somebody help me get out of this mess of a dead life

* * *

"How could this have happened? They're gone, again! This is bullshit Bruce and you know it!" An enraged Barry was angrily shouting at Bruce in the near empty meeting room of the Watchtower; excluding Oliver, Dinah and Clark watching the situation unfold helplessly from the sidelines. Bruce had his cowl resting on the table he was seated at as Barry paced from one end of the room to the other.

"We will get them back Barry."

Barry was in Bruce's face within a second, "We found them once. That was by friggin' luck and there is a god chance we'll never get to see them again. So don't tell me that everything will be alright because I know for a fact it won't be."

Bruce shoved Barry out of his face, standing up, "My son is missing. I'll be damned if I lose him to something as stupid as this—to a mental case. I won't allow it to happen."

Barry laughed humorlessly, "Wake up and smell the death Bruce! That lunatic, who'd Tim say it was—Hyades, that man has our lives in his hold. He has my son and he has yours and you're still holding onto a petty hope that they are still alive?"

"Barry—"

He waved his arms as he talked, body vibrating forlornly. "Hyades _wants_ something from them. That's why he can't just let them roam free. He's going to get what he wants and then leave them like fucking _roadkill_ on the side of the street!"

Bruce grabbed one of Barry's hands in a tight grip. In a warning.

"I will get my son back if it's the last damned thing I do. Don't doubt that I won't take care of anything in my way."

Clark stepped in between them, Oliver grabbing Bruce's shoulder while Dinah grabbed Barry's forearm. "That's enough you two. We can't get them back if we are all at each other's throats." Clark reasoned uneasily, Oliver backing him up.

"If we want to find Richard and Wally we need to be at our best. Not our worse."

Bruce shoved off Oliver's touch, "I'm at my worse all of the time."

* * *

i'm burning under the spotlight

* * *

"Artemis?" Zatanna treads uncertainly into the cave's kitchen looking for her best friend, only to breathe a sigh of relief after seeing her curled into herself on the couch. She takes a seat next to her friend on the couch, the two sitting in decent silence for a few minutes.

* * *

my heart is a fist drenched in blood,my soul will fight again

* * *

"Wallace my dear boy, I think I need to check on a few things."

Dick could see Wally pale from where he was hanging and his body twitched in fear as Aeron moved closer to him and unhooked the chains holding him (both had tried to fight back numerous times and it had only resulted in more cuts and burns so they didn't really try anymore) slinging the boy over his shoulder and heading towards the door. Dick forced himself to ignore the lump in his throat and ask the question that had been nagging at him the entire time.

"Why are you doing this? You became a super, you have inhuman powers. What's your ending goal?" Aeron paused in the doorway but didn't turn to answer Dick.

"I may be powerful but I need to make sure I always have you two fighting for me. I'm just engineering a way to make sure that happens."

Wally coughed up some blood, spitting a wad on Aeron's exposed shoulder blade. "Go to hell, our friends will find us."

Aeron allowed a chilling laugh to escape him before exiting the room and leaving Dick all alone. But not without leaving Dick with some final horrid words. "Oh they won't find you this time Kid. I've made sure of it. The last thing you did with everyone you knew, that is what you left with them. You aren't going to see them for a long while."

When the door slammed shut behind Aeron Dick felt like the world was closing in around him at the villain's words. He chuckled to himself, it was mangled and broken and hateful but Dick held onto the one sane thing he could think of.

At least Wally got to be with Artemis one last time, whereas Dick didn't get to hold Zatanna as close as he wanted to in their last hug . . . which was months ago.

* * *

take a look at these hollow eyes—one last look before I say goodbye

* * *

"What if we don't get them back this time Zee?" Artemis speaks of the thought Zatanna didn't want to think about because she hadn't gotten to kiss every part of Dick as much as she wanted to in her lifetime. She wanted him to come back to her with his bright eyes and cocky attitude and pinch her side subtly when she wasn't paying attention. To kiss her.

"They have to come back Artemis. We aren't done with them yet."

Artemis chuckles but it isn't her. It's filled with lost hope and dread and a tint of hate. "Wally and I slept together two days ago. But that isn't enough right now. All I want is a damn hug from that dumbass, just _one_ last _fucking_ hug."

Zatanna chuckles and the two move close so that they are in a side hug for comfort.

But neither think that'll ever be enough to heal them properly if they end up not being able to find Kid Idiot and Boy Wonder.

* * *

to this candle-lit nightmare I feel like can never escape

* * *

Dick's mind shoots to Zatanna after he sits in the terrifying silence of the room for about an hour, Wally still missing. He remembers their short make out session back on New Year's when they were young, and then their first official time hooking up when he was sixteen and three weeks before her sixteenth birthday. He can still remember what she was wearing; a black button down with some sweats and her white gloves discarded in his room as they got deeper and deeper in each other.

They didn't go all of the way (he made it to first base according to Wally) because of Red Tornado calling everyone to the meeting room for a mission (as soon as Artemis saw Zatanna's swollen lips along with Dick's red cheeks she dragged her away to hear the entire story she wouldn't let her live it down for weeks).

Both had started up a relationship a few days after that but it had ended less than a month later because as much as they liked each other it seemed like Bats was just about ready to murder Dick if he caught them making out in the closet one more time. It also didn't help that Dick was a natural flirt and he ended up sweet talking more girls than Zatanna had liked—even as loyal and trustworthy as she knew he was.

They stayed close, becoming pretty good friends with their past. When they were both eighteen their next hookup happened and they went all of the way in Dick's old room at the cave and he told her his name after they had done it for the first time.

He knew the moment so clearly still because of the way she had nuzzled her face into his neck after he told her and the whispered 'thank you' that had found it's way sneaking past her lips.

Their most recent hookup, besides the chaste kiss they shared before he had confronted Wally, was a few months after he had turned nineteen. They had gone out to with some fake IDs to get drinks and got a little too intoxicated and ended up back at Dick's apartment; clothes thrown anywhere and everywhere.

Both knew they were treading on uncharted waters every time they hooked up, purely from the amount of different girls Dick had slept and flirted with in the in between of each hookup, but they found each other intoxicating—they just couldn't get enough of each other.

Dick had a foolproof plan when it came to girls; be the nice guy, offer them a drink and then bring them back to his apartment or some motel down the street if he felt that they would become too clingy or asked too many questions (couldn't have anyone stopping by his apartment with three superheroes living there). But with Zatanna, everything was different.

They were such close friends that she could see through any lie he would try to tell, she could see through his careless façade easily. The same went for Barbara, who he had tried toying with on many occasions only to get shot down each time, because they were like close siblings and she could just _tell_ when he wasn't himself. It went against his plan on getting through life without getting close to anyone, because he didn't want to care for someone for them to just get killed like his parents, but Zatanna just happened.

The people learning from Bruce at Wayne Manor just happened.

And Dick would be damned if he couldn't admit it but he loved Zatanna, as much as it hurt him too because he didn't want to throw her into the line of fire.

But he couldn't stop it and it just had happened that way.

Suddenly the door in front of his hanging form opened to reveal a beaten up Wally getting dragged back into the room by the scientist, who as per usual, had a sickening smile on his face.

"Now it's your turn Richard. Then I'll leave you two alone for a while."

* * *

so watch me fall from grace—watch me carve my hate

* * *

"This is so fucked up," Barry mumbles to himself as Bruce's hand comes to fall on his shoulder.

"We . . . they are still out there. I can feel it." Barry shakes his head, far too lost to even have any hope left.

"It's been a month Bruce. An entire goddamn month with no sightings and no Wally or Dick."

The two spoke quietly to each other as Artemis headed towards the zeta beam, eyes still puffy with her earlier hissy fit. Zee had just calmed her down in time for Artemis to head back to Dick's apartment and feed Brucely dinner and as the light engulfed her she felt another tear slip out of her eye. She missed the two dumbasses more than anything.

But there was a large possibly that they were dead and she knew she should stop living in the past but as long as Barry and Bruce didn't give up then she wouldn't.

But as she entered Dick's apartment and was met by a slimy dog nose instead of the loud trash talk of the two boys playing Call of Duty on their Xbox One, she couldn't help but feel too alone. She called Zatanna later on and she slept over, the two still on edge but calmed enough to fall into their separate emotionless dreams.

Zatanna slept next to the family picture of Dick and Artemis' fell asleep to reruns of old Baywatch episodes on the television.

* * *

i'm screaming while i pray

* * *

There was a knife in Dick's barely moving chest. There was a knife sticking out of Wally's broken hip. Aeron had made sure they would both bleed out at the same time so that he could eject the cure (nicknamed FTO2-CO2-B) into both of their bloodstreams.

He left them withering in pain to allow them some time. There was a possibly their cells would reject the antibiotic and they would die but Aeron was sure that wouldn't happen.

He had crossed every t and dotted every i.

 _They didn't do anything to you Ron and yet you do this to them, why my dear?_

He growled at his mother's voice, smashing his palm against his head. "Get out Mother."

 _Torturing innocent souls won't bring me back Aeron, my sweetheart._

"This isn't for your benefit Mother, this is for me. They are my key to competing my plans. I'll break them down and then build them back up, making sure they only answer to me." He snarled, shaking his head.

 _Sometimes I wonder dear, why I had to die in the fire instead of you._

Aeron felt the sting in his arms, the pinch of a million different insect legs crawling through him.

Was there someone standing in the corner giggling at him?

What was that red stuff in his vision?

"Be gone Mother!"

His scream caused laughing to go off like the clang of bells in his head and he shouted at the empty space around him for a while.

* * *

i am on my knees today but you don't notice me

* * *

"D-Dickie," Wally's wheezed words caused Dick to open his eyes to the best of his ability. He could feel the life draining out of him.

"Y-Yeah Wall-Man?"

Wally coughed, nearly gagging at the blood pooling on the ground underneath of him so instead he choose not to look. "I-I'm sorry Dickie, f-for everything I said. I-I just wanted y-you to hurt as much as m-me." Dick laughed, as much as the action hurt him, and his blood stained lips formed a half awake smile.

"I figured as much KF, y-you are one hot tempered s-son of a bitch." Wally was thrown into another couching fit before he could answer his best friend and Dick shushed him sensibly. Comfortingly. "It's alright to go to s-sleep Wally. I'm right h-here buddy."

Wally's gazed eyes slid over to look at Dick as best as he could? "Y-Yeah?" He whispered, his lids falling down seconds later.

Dick smiled softly, "Yeah bud, we are gonna be alright. I'll be right with you through it all a-alright?"

"Dickie," He wished he had the strength to banter with Wally about the annoying nickname but it peculiarly allowed him to feel at peace. Dick believed Wally knew that too.

"Yeah man?"

Wally's chains creaked with the man's movements of trying to move his hands in one last feeble attempt. "If y-you make it through, i-if you survive . . . tell A-Artemis I'll a-always love her okay?"

Dick knew Wally was dying faster than he was, though it felt like hours were passing before them. The man didn't have enough willpower to tell Wally that it highly unlikely he would get out of this to tell Artemis what Wally wanted to but Dick just gulped and nodded gasping when some air got clogged in his throat. He coughed it out and then answered, "I-I will buddy. I will."

Wally's voice got lower, all too fast. "I-I love you Dick. B-Brothers always." He muttered, Dick closing his eyes.

"Brothers always KF. I love you too. Always."

Both entered the darkness at the same time and both felt at ease with that, because their brother was right there next to them.

How could you be scared of the unknown with your best friend at your side?


	5. five

_**This**_ **chapter contains:**

Spoilers: General Season 1 and 2

Random Lyrics from: Alive (N' Out of Control) by Papa Roach

Pairings: Scenes of Spitfire, scenes of Chalant, DaddyFlash, DaddyBats and DaddyGreenArrow

Important Extra Notes: Now, no one hate me for this chapter. A lot of things go down and we learn about what Aeron did to Dick and Wally, along with some other things. I'm sorry for the slightly delayed update but that is because I just had surgery on Tuesday so I'm still recovering from that but to make up for it this chapter is close to 12,300 words since I don't know when the next chapter will be posted. I promise I will still try to do every week and/or two week updates. I struggled a lot with this chapter because of all of the raw emotion in here and the whole being of Ace (who you will meet when you read) but this seems to be the best way of putting everything so hopefully you all enjoy! Thanks for all of the support! :) I also know people get mad sometimes if there is no mention about character deaths so that is why it is in big, bold letters below.

 _This_ chapter is **rated teen for** some language, scenes of violence, little bits of disturbing matters, large amounts of angst, trigger warning for the topic of domestic abuse along with a trigger warning for a short mention of self-harm and heavy emotions.

 **(!) WARNING: TWO MAJOR CHARACTER DEATHS TAKE PLACE IN THIS CHAPTER (!)**

* * *

Translation Notes:

 _Romani:_

"Mama ta și tata ar fi mândru de tine, fiule, și eu sunt prea. Întoarce-te la noi o zi. Eu voi fi mereu în așteptare." — "Your mother and father would be proud of you, son, and I am too. Come back to us one day. I will always be waiting."

"Tată, ajută-mă." — "Father, help me."

Tata — Dad

 _Spanish:_

Amigo — friend, dude

* * *

for crying out loud i'm running from a comedown

* * *

 **FOUR YEARS LATER**

* * *

There's a good sized crowd around two graves that don't hold any bodies.

It's early December and there's a chill in the air, fluffy flakes of white petty snow falling from the clouded sky above. There's a diverse difference in the crowd, like a spilt down the middle, as the families of the two marked gravestones are far from being at peace with each other.

On the right is a hyperactive family with Barry and Iris standing in the front, the elder speedster twitching and longing to go and run someplace. The chipped words that held his nephew's name were gnawing at his insides. Wally's parents stood closest to the grave, off to the side and decked in full black with thick coats enlarging their bodies to keep the frigid air around them from nipping at their insides and freezing their toes. The tears escaping Rudy and Mary could form Lake Michigan right then and there most likely.

Barry barely glances at the smaller amount of people to the left of him, mostly because Bruce was standing there in the front; lips pressed in a firm line and face drained of any emotion. Barry didn't want to ever have to be in the same room as the man again and if he wasn't in his civvies he probably would've socked him directly in the jaw by now.

On the left side of the cemetery is a small, quieter family that consisted of Bruce and Alfred to the side of the leftmost gravestone—with some members of the Justice League behind them along with all of the members of the new and old Young Justice Team (Bruce can't help but feel a stabbing pain when he remembers telling everyone Dick's civilian ID . . . he can't help but feel guilty because he would've loved the looks on everyone's face—Bruce knew he would've).

All are bunched up in jackets or coats, some of the women clutching the material closer to themselves in a delicate attempt at keeping warm. Dick didn't have any relatives and neither did Bruce, they also didn't allow anything to leak to the media with the help from Jim Gordon so it was a smaller gathering for them but that didn't hinder the love directed towards the two dreary grey gravestones in front of them.

A single priest stood in between the two graves, holy book in his hands and hardened features actually taking on, what looked like, a form of pity. He looked around at everyone standing before them, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to send two brave young men off. We are gathered here today to get through this thing called life, together."

Bruce tuned out the man after a moment, his mind still not being able to wrap around the cold, hard facts that had stared him in the face since the day the boys were kidnapped. He had searched for four years. They all had searched high and low, through hell and back—for four years with no leads and no successful findings of any evidence towards where Dick and Wally were. The capture had severed Barry and Bruce's friendship (or as close as you could get to something called friendship with Bruce) and Alfred was the one who had told Bruce it was time to face the facts about a month ago and as much as everyone wanted to deny it; Bruce told the same thoughts to both the Justice League and Young Justice Team who all agreed.

It was time to put the matter at rest.

To give both boys, who were presumed dead, final peace. So a double funeral was arranged (they were like brothers and though Bruce and Barry were no longer on speaking terms, everyone else thought it would be a good idea to put them to rest together).

The after effects of the decision was still occurring, painfully.

Artemis was clutching onto Zatanna's arm like a salvation, the tears wouldn't stop coming. She couldn't make them stop. Wally promised he would always come back to her, he was supposed to be her forever. Forever.

Zatanna was riddled with grief but she was able to compose herself enough to help Artemis through her pain, she and Dick weren't even together. Their last fling was a while ago . . . she would be alright crying about him alone in her room. She would be okay somehow.

M'gann and Conner stood close to each other, both putting their feelings on hold to console Gar who had been a mess. Dick was supposed to be his older brother, his knight—his family protector. He had promised! He had pulled Gar aside and _promised_ him after his mother's death that everything would be okay, that he would always be there to help him and watch over him. But he wasn't. The young boy, now turned teenager, was too uncertain on all of his rage and sadness to act on any of it so he just accepted M'gann's motherly hug and held tight.

Bart was next to Barry, Aunt Iris with a hand on his shoulder and Jamie holding Bart's hand in a shabby attempt at comforting him. The past Blue Beetle muttered things in his head about how he swore the two were still alive because he could sense a life signal from both when they traveled some places as Jamie stood there but he ignored it, he just wanted to be there for his best friend (though he would _never_ admit it).

Bart was destroyed on the inside—he stared at Wally's bedroom door in the cave and stared for hours. He would sit there and think that Wally would speed out of the room any second. Any second. But it never happened and Bart had cried too many times in Barry's shoulder to count because his big bro wasn't coming back.

Kaldur and Raquel stood towards the back, feeling strange at such a thing. The guilt ate Kaldur alive, it did. He knew he would never forget his fallen comrades.

Barbara had her arms wrapped around Tim's shoulders from a behind hug, the two stationed just a few feet away from the rest of their bat family. It was like Jason all over again and it was nauseating to the two that Jason's grave was hidden just a few yards away; behind the large oak tree with the many different colored leaves beautifying the ground around it.

The graves revolted everyone, no one would admit that though because this was supposed to be their friends' send off to death.

 **Wallace Rudolph West**

 _ **Loved son whose words will never fade from this earth.**_

 **November 11th, 1994—2020**

Wally's grave was too soundless for a person who had such a bubbling personally.

 **Richard John Grayson**

 _ **Loved son whose laughter will never be forgotten from the shadows.**_

 **December 1st, 1996—2020**

Dick's grave was too cold for someone who had so many wonderful ideas to save the world.

Artemis can't help but bitterly think about how sweet and ironic it is that both are named after their fathers'. Both were made to be legacies from birth. Artemis' hands wrapped around her lower abdomen and she watched a tear make a dampened mark on her white and grey Northface jacket and allowed a strangled laugh to escape her throat.

Wally's parents never gave him a chance with the name they bestowed on him, did they? Her brain can scarcely recollect the day she had told him that ("Were you an ugly baby or something? Is that why they named you something so—" and he had cut her off with a kiss before muttering that "It's family, what can you really do?" before lifting her body over to the queen sized bed behind them) and the outcome and it just causes more tears to come.

Zatanna squeezed her shoulder, "You okay?" she whispered, some aunts and uncles from Wally's family giving her a dirty look for the hallow laughter that had slipped past her chapped lips a few seconds before.

Artemis barely nods but Zatanna understands and pulls Artemis close to her in a side hug as the priest finishes up his main speech and now moves onto talking about each 'brother' separately. Artemis fuzzily remembers that his name is Reverend Dean. His low voice is ignored by Barry and Bruce, who are too busy still trying to figure out where their boys were though their graves were in front of them and before anyone knows the ceremony is over and people are slowly leaving the graveyard.

Everyone pays their respects as they pass by; leaving just Bruce, Barry, Artemis and Zatanna as the last ones standing there. Barry walks in front of Wally's grave and pats the top of the cool stone with his hand, like as if it was Wally sitting there instead, as the thin layer of snow that had been resting there was now dusted off.

"Hiya Kid," he murmurs and smiles shortly, his lips not really able to form a smile, "your parents aren't really talking to me right now. Neither is Wayne. I'm assuming you can guess why. Your ass didn't come home before curfew. Your stupid ass didn't come home safe." He chuckles bitterly and behind him Bruce flinches and it's hardly noticeable because he can hide things like that so well but Artemis sees and feels a million reactions. She might've lost her one true love but these two lost the people they basically called their sons.

Barry clears his throat before speaking again and Artemis knows she shouldn't listen in but she does anyway, "Your ass didn't ever come home because I wasn't able to protect you, like I promised I would." He rubs the cool rock, "I'm sorry Kid. I'm so damn sorry. I can promise you I'll look after your folks, Artemis, Iris . . . and hell, I don't think I'm ever letting Bart out of my sight again. But Wally, I promise I won't let them get hurt. I promise I won't break this one. I'll protect them with my life Kid, as you did every day of your life for all of the innocents in this world. I love you bud, I'll see you on the other side."

He turns and walks away without looking behind him and no one makes a move until Zatanna takes it upon herself to move in front of Dick's grave. She stares at his full name for what seems like the longest time until she whispers four simple words spelled backwards and Artemis goes to move forwards thinking she's trying to revive him or something only to stop herself when she connects the words in her brain and understands what she said (roughly translates to 'happy birthday Boy Wonder' in Artemis' head and it hits her like a ton of bricks because she remembers that exact birthday and the two's closeness and she feels horrible that they didn't get to ever say that they truly loved each other while on God's green earth).

Zatanna chuckles to herself and it brings Artemis back to the present. "I never got to say that backwards for you and I know how much I teased you with it. I thought I would have more time. But I guess not 'cause you're gone now." Artemis knows she stumbling through her words, doesn't know exactly what to say. But her next words do shock Artemis more than they should have. "I love you Dick."

She disappears after Artemis blinks and in that amount of time Bruce is moving towards Dick's gravestone and crouching down. His calloused thumb traces over the letters of his first name before he pulls it away and speaks.

"You did well son. You always did well. I'm proud of you for that." Artemis knows how Bruce is thanks to Dick's many stories of how he tried to act like a father figure or something of the sort and the hilarious fails. She understands his gruffness because he doesn't know anything else. Bruce stands up and before walking away he says one last thing that catches Artemis' attention. She can tell he's speaking a different language and if he had to guess the exact language she would go with Dick's first language—Romani. "Mama ta și tata ar fi mândru de tine, fiule, și eu sunt prea. Întoarce-te la noi o zi. Eu voi fi mereu în așteptare." He turns towards Artemis on his way past her and pinches her elbow in an attempt at some type of comfort, "I'll give you a ride to Gotham so you can pick him up,"

She sends him a generous look, "Thanks Bruce but if you don't want to—"

"I insist." He replies firmly and she nods her head in answer.

Bruce heads back to where his car is parked with Alfred and Artemis is alone, beside the gravestones of her two best friends. She moves over to Wally's stone and presses a lingering kiss to the top of it, pulling back with a chilling wetness on her lips from the snow and placing her hand overtop the words of 'never forgotten'.

"I love you babe. Forever and always Baywatch."

And she swears, she swears to whatever is above and whatever is below that there's a short whish sound behind her and a few words whispered in her ear but when she turns around there isn't anyone there but the wind and she holds onto the words she heard tight because it sounded like him and felt like him and she didn't want to come to terms with it that she lost him.

"Don't cry, beautiful. I love you too."

* * *

god forbid i know i've been a letdown

* * *

When Wally is back standing next to Dick, he gives the older man a pointed look.

"That was stupid Wally. Really, _really_ stupid."

Wally leans on the tree next to his friend, staring at his girlfriend who still sat at his bare grave. "I had to say it one last time Dickie."

He shakes his head with a scoff, "What if she turned around just a second faster? She would've saw you and he would've came after her _and_ us." Wally turns toward his friend and there's a stubborn look in his orbs.

"She's crying."

Dick rubbed at his eyes and avoided looking anywhere near his broken friend by their graves. "She'll get happy again man. She'll find someone else and be happy." As much as it pained him to say those words he knew he had to because Wally still didn't get it. He didn't understand that they weren't going to be broken of this horrid thing binding them and they wouldn't get to go home again. Wally bullheadedly runs a hand through his hair and clears his throat and it doesn't take a fool to know he's trying to push down the tears.

"I don't want her to have someone else Dick. No one else in this world knows her as well as I do."

Dick sighs and moves forwards, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Someone will figure it out."

He knows how Wally feels, damn it he does. Because he wants to do the same thing—he still wants to pull his bat family into a tight hug. It's been four years since he had last pulled Tim into a headlock to piss him off and ruffle at his hair. Four years since he had hugged Barbara tight, wiping away the tears off her face from the latest boy that had broken her heart—ready to kick ass if needed. Four years without Alfred's outstanding Chicken Alfredo drenched in delicious tasting sauce and a nice badass glass of chilled Pepsi on the side. Four years since he last saw Bruce give him a legit smile.

It had been even longer since he had seen Jason, five and a half actually, and even with the knowing feeling at the back of his brain that Jason's body was only a few feet away from his empty grave—Dick wished he was alive so he could have given him one last hug, or even hear him curse one last time (as he was known to have a vulgar mouth on him) but he knew none of it would happen.

They were like puppets now, controlled with malevolence by a lone puppet master's string; a string that held Aeron Hyades' disgusting aspect on the other end.

Wally noticed the fact of Dick zoning out with his thoughts after staring at his girlfriend for a few minutes longer. "Dude?" Dick looks up from his hands at Wally's words and the latter can see something like a tear fall from behind his friend's domino mask. "You okay?"

He nods and exhales heavily, turning away from the graveyard and looking at Wally.

"Yeah, yeah I'm good. So where else do you want to go before our 'free time' is over?" He spit out each word with malice and Wally was pretty sure that if Aeron could hear them they would both be getting the living daylights kicked out of them for the way Dick had spoken.

Wally scratches at the back of his cowl, "Maybe we could stop at—"

A single shrill beep echoed from both of their suits and Wally jumped from the sound. He looked fearfully at Dick who had nearly the same look plastered over his features. "Shit, shit, _shit_!" Wally muttered, scrambling to bring his hand up to his ear so he could turn on the com located there.

Dick did the same thing and was able to click his on faster as he spoke quickly, "Grayson, John, Richard checking in as Nightwing. Coded time is 2:36 in the afternoon." Wally looked to Dick after he finished speaking, hand lingering by his com.

"How did we lose track of time Dick? He's gonna kill us." Dick quickly shook his head, grabbing Wally's raised hand and pressing it to his ear so he could check in. Wally stumbled, trying to get the correct order of words.

"West, Rudolph, Wallace checking in as Kid Flash at 2:37 in the afternoon." Dick released Wally's hand with an audible sigh of relief. Both clicked off their coms so they could speak freely again.

Then Dick spoke in answer to the former's earlier question, "We—we must have gotten distracted by the funeral. We'll be okay Wally, we were only a minute late. He'll . . . he'll take mercy." Wally pulled at his hands, fidgeting in place.

"And if he doesn't?"

Dick simply stayed silent until Aeron's smooth voice came from their ears. "A minute late? Distracted by something boys?"

Wally was the one who turned on his ear com to respond, "Nothing. I-It was nothing sir, is there a mission for us or should we head back to—"

Aeron cut the speedster off carefully, clicking his tongue. "Come back home son, I have some very special news for the two of you that I think you'll both be very excited to hear." Aeron's voice cut out and Wally pulled down his googles over his eyes, flipping his com off again. They both hated ever having it on to respond to the horrid man, it unnerved them both too much. They turned off their coms whenever possible to try and get rid of that feeling and anything with it. Nothing could fully clench that feeling though.

"Damn it Dick, I don't want to live like this." Dick knew Wally's mind was filled with the atrocious ideals of what Aeron could possibly want to see them for. He could tell his best friend was freaking out on the inside. He moved forward and let his hand fall on Wally's shoulder in an attempt at giving his friend some type of reassurance.

"He didn't sound mad man, we'll be fine. Listen if he tries to do anything big I'll intervene alright?"

Wally instantly shook his head, shoving Dick's hand off him. "No Dick, I can't allow you to do that. You've been through—"

Dick moved forwards and gripped Wally's wrist gently, "We've both been through hell."

Wally stays silent for a minute until he allows a smile to slip across his face, patting Dick's hand. "Thanks dude," the sincere tone of his voice causes a wave of emotion to surge through Dick. If he could, he would take it all just so that Wally wasn't involved. He knew that even after four years the man still wasn't too fond on hiding what little feelings he had left and pushing through life on the blank poker face he wore.

It just wasn't his style, Dick knew.

Wally had never dealt with true loss, the biggest experience he had with it was the past four years they had been ripped from their only sense of sanity and love. Dick knew what loss was with his parents, Artemis with her criminal family—Wally had always tried to relate and be there for the two but he had no idea what it felt like until having to live in it. Aeron had torn him away from Artemis, Barry and his parents; and Dick knew he would probably rip the man to sheds if he had a chance—piece by piece, blood by gut.

Wally tugged his black goggles over his face, groaning when he felt the faint buzz of impatience in his bloodstream. "C'mon man, let's go." Dick whispered, trying his best to disregard the pain radiating from his brain—the stabbing in his gut.

Aeron wanted them there, _now_.

"I'm gonna run by—"

Dick froze in the action of pulling out his grapple gun with a shake of his head. "Wally, no. You can't."

"Dick I need to see her,"

Dick rubbed at his eyes with a grunt of disapproval, "You just risked our necks to see her ten minutes ago. You can't Wally and I'm so damn sorry about that. I am. But no one can find out what we've become."

Wally exhales once before taking off, and Dick follows after him with a simple click of his grapple gun and a somersault as he flies onto the roof of the nearest building.

* * *

reaching for the sky while laying in a gutter

* * *

Bruce's offer holds true as she ascends into his car and is met with a wave of eggnog-smelling heat. Bruce gives her a nod before meeting eyes with Alfred in the review mirror, "Head to Paula's apartment in Gotham Alfred, please."

"Right away sir," The butler replies in a chipper tone before starting to drive away while meanwhile Artemis sees the cause of the sweet smell is because a glass cup of eggnog sits next to Bruce in the cup holder and he isn't blind to the look of longing as she stares at the delightful treat.

Without any words he reaches into the compartment next to him and pulls out a small thermostat of the stuff, holding it out to Artemis. She looks at the container in question and doesn't take it until he sends a solemn nod her way and in return she takes a small sip of it greedily.

She knows she has to collect herself before they reach her mother's grungy apartment. Bruce says nothing else to her on the short ride back—the graves were in a fancier part of Blüdhaven as Barry and Bruce both came to the hallowed agreement that home was where the heart is—and the only thing aiding the dulled silence is the faint sound of Alfred's opera music playing from the front of the Rolls Royce (Beethoven's 5th Symphony if Artemis was hearing it correctly).

It took them thirty minutes of silence before they reached Gotham and Alfred pulled over to the side of the road a block over from Paula's apartment as to not raise any suspicion for such a nice car being in such a hazardous area. Artemis sends Bruce a calm smile as she reaches for the door handle.

"Thanks for the ride Bruce," She could swear the corner of his lips twitch into a small resemblance of a smile and a part of her wonders how the Batman is able to smile—frankly she thought he wasn't capable of such forward emotion.

He grabs her elbow gently to keep her from leaving and she turns to him in question, "Why don't you go get Ace and then I'll give you a ride back to Blüdhaven? I don't like you two walking that far alone."

Artemis had sold Wally and her Palo Alto apartment, knowing there was no use for it anymore after she had been living in Dick's apartment for so long. She moved all of the boxes, with help from Barry and Iris, into Dick's apartment and fixed it up a little—Bruce helped her with payments against her will because even though she was working two jobs and a side job as a superhero, times were still tight.

She mostly stayed there because it was like a home to her by now and it still held the spirits of her two best friends in a weird way (it was also a bonus that Gotham was only twenty minutes away and Central forty five—it eased both Bruce and Barry's worries that if Ace and her ever needed help either of them could be there in a matter of minutes to aid).

Though, Artemis would never admit how she appreciated the support from both men, she was glad they had grown so close to Ace. She was glad to have them. She pondered Bruce's response for only a few seconds before nodding her head, "Thanks Bruce. It . . . really means a lot."

Bruce released the hold he had on her elbow, looking towards Alfred. "You okay with waiting?"

Alfred met his eyes in the review mirror, "Of course sir. I haven't seen Master Wallace in a while, he never did tell me how that certain Pokémon movie ended."

Artemis and Bruce both laughed softly at the butler's reply, it was times like these that always reminded Artemis that she was surrounded by family. "Alright, I'll be back in a flash then."

With those final words she climbed out of the car and started making her way towards her mother's house, mind swirling with many different thoughts. At least Ace had other people to look out for him, it reassured her that he would always be protected.

That he wouldn't suffer the same fate as Wally and Dick.

* * *

kicking and screaming i am singing bloody murder

* * *

Dick's hand ghosts over the handprint scanner as he waits for it to accept his print. He had lost sight of Wally when they crossed through the slummy part of Blüdhaven, with its grimy streets and vile smell in the air.

"Come on, come on!" He mutters as the blue light slowly moves up and down his palm, confirming his ID to ensure no imposer was trying to get in.

Dick made it his responsibility to always keep an eye on Wally because over the years he had discovered that the older man didn't fare well when he was left alone with Aeron. Somehow Wally would always manage to piss off Aeron and end up bloody and bruised when Dick would finally find him—in a way he always saved Wally from death, as the speedster succeeded to piss off Aeron that bad nearly every time.

"Identification confirmed. Good afternoon Mister Grayson. Voice code please?"

He groaned quietly, removing his hand from the scanner and edgily tapping his fingers on his hip. "Richard Grayson, open."

"Thank you Mister Grayson. Welcome, Mister Hyades requires you to be present in room B3 immediately upon arrival."

Sometimes, Dick _really_ hated the computer—it's all knowing womanish voice seemingly having a mind of its own as Aeron tweaked with the system to allow it to give it requests for Dick and Wally every day. Dick _really_ hated it.

"I'm on my way Wall-Man, just hold on. I hope you didn't screw yourself over," he murmured quietly to himself as he entered the building, door closing soundlessly behind him with an advanced air lock. Dick took off in a run towards where room B3 was, knowing nothing good could be coming if Aeron had wanted a meeting in one of the mental rooms.

* * *

i'm alive when i'm vulnerable

* * *

"Thanks again Mom,"

"Anytime Artemis, be safe getting home okay?"

Artemis gave her mom a final nod as she exited the apartment, heading out of the building with Ace at her side. As she makes her way back to where Bruce parked, she sees a flash of green out of the corner of her eye and sees an arrow stuck in the brick of the alleyway next to her, rolling her eyes and tugging Ace's hand towards the dark shortcut.

"Let's go this way buddy, I think Uncle Ollie wants to say hi to us."

A smile crossed over Ace's features as he giddily nodded his head and they turned into the alleyway, Oliver Queen dropping down in front of them once they reached a dark enough spot out of view. Ace didn't waste a second in vaulting himself towards Oliver in a hug, the older man letting out an oomph sound as the young boy plowed into him. "Uncle Ollie!" He chuckled, upsetting the boy's blonde hair and returning the hug by giving him a tight squeeze.

Oliver looked over Ace's head to send a look to Artemis, whose lips were pinched in a smile (he had said it was no bother for him to keep an eye on Paula and him while Artemis was at the funeral).

He glanced back down at Ace, pulling back from the hug and resting his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Hey buddy, did you have fun at Grandma Paula's?"

Artemis scoffed from her spot, Oliver glancing over at her. "What?"

"I would be careful about what you say, she hates being called a grandma."

Oliver laughed loudly, "I think I can take care of myself Artemis but thanks for the heads up." Oliver turned his attention back to Ace and they chatted for a few minutes, Artemis getting lost in her thoughts. The older man distracts Ace by giving him his League transmitter to play with (just because he wants to see how many times Ace can call the Watchtower and stun them with his causal cuteness before they get annoyed) before walking over to Artemis and placing a hand on her shoulder.

She jumps and goes to hurdle away but calms herself after remembering where she was at.

"Did you fare okay at the funeral?"

Artemis half nods, shrugging. "Got some dirty looks from Wally's third cousin twice removed but besides that I think I faired alright. Zee helped me through it." Oliver doesn't miss her curt tone or how short she keeps her sentences.

He pauses a second, Ace telling Clark about his day muffled in the background, before speaking again.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there but funerals aren't really my thing." She understood his personal ties with death and why he didn't come. She was fine with it, everyone had their reasons. "Artemis," She looks up to him at his soft voice, her eyes pricking with unshed tears. "Are you . . . okay?"

A tear slips from her eye and he chuckles gently, holding open his arms as she moves in close to him for a hug. He holds her just as tight as he had held Ace, leaving a kiss on the top of her head. "I can't take it Ollie. He's everywhere. He's in me, he's in Ace. He's everywhere I go. But he's gone." She mutters in a hushed sob, Oliver simply rubbing her back.

They can faintly hear Ace messing with Red Tornado in the upbringing.

"I know it hurts sweetheart. I know it does. But you have to push through it. For your sake and for Ace."

The resemblance between Ace and Artemis is undoubtable—Ace has her blonde hair, wild like Wally's, with green eyes that Oliver swears are just as bright as Wally's were the day he realized he was in love with Artemis. There are freckles dotting his cheeks and he is a replica of Wally's personality. It was sudden, Ace, Artemis got morning sickness soon after her reunion with Wally and then Zatanna asked her of the impossible—if there was any chance she was pregnant. Artemis refused that thought completely but as the weeks stretched into months and hope for finding Dick and Wally dwindled; she decided she should get tested . . . to be sure.

They headed to one of the best doctors in the US (who was stationed at a hospital in Central City) and Artemis' life was turned upside down as the doctor confirmed what Zatanna had questioned.

Artemis was pregnant with Wally's baby and he was nowhere to be found.

One by one she revealed the news to the rest of the team and then she saved Barry and Bruce for last—who had both pulled her into a heartbreaking hug the moment after—and then soon after that she was giving birth. On April 14th, 2017; Wallace "Ace" Barry Crock was born.

Now he was three and a bubbling joy to have around, but it was always painful when he would ask about where his father was at. Artemis came to the answer of telling him that Wally was on an adventure and that she didn't know when he would be back but when he did return that he would pull Ace into a bone crushing hug (how can you explain death to a three year old?).

Artemis loved Ace with all of her heart but all of the Justice League could see how being a single mother was affecting her—especially with Artemis still wanting to be a superhero on the side—so every member of the Young Justice team and Justice League chipped in the help.

She's twenty five and the tolls of motherhood are always bold on her features. Her blonde hair is shorter, but still long, grey eyes dimmed but alive. Black is present under her eyes with secret hints of bruises and cuts on her hands from shooting different arrows on missions. She's shorter than Barry's lean figure and skinner than Oliver's bulked out chest, but muscles still weave under her skin.

A hand on her cheek brings her back to the present and she smiles shortly at Oliver's concerned face. "It'll be okay Artemis."

She laughs coldly, "That's what everyone keeps saying. But is that what you all really think?"

* * *

i'm out of control, i'm losing my soul

* * *

Dick can hear muffled shouting as he goes to yank open the door, only to be meant by Wally's bloody body located on the floor and Aeron standing over him with a set jaw and hateful eyes. Wally's eyes meet Dick's when the latter slams the door open and before Aeron can say anything Wally is struggling to stand up and yelling again. "Run Dick! Fucking run and don't turn back! He wants us, he wants us to kill them! We can't kill them, I can't kill him! I can't—"

Aeron comes to his senses and his foots collides with the speedster's face, effectively shutting him up. He leaves Wally and turns to Dick standing in the doorway, fists white from being clenched so tight. A wicked smile covers his lips and Dick feels disgusted by having to even look at the man.

Whatever 'cure' that Aeron had pumped into his bloodstream all those years ago had given him Wally's speed, though slightly slowed down, and Dick's hacking skills along with his signature acrobatic moves and flexibility. At the cost of that though, Aeron's face was mutated. He didn't look exactly like Two-Face but it was close; one side of his face was as it had been forever while the other side had his skin melting together and nose crooked and chin dislocated. Dick didn't know what kind of cure did that effect but he never questioned it as the rest of Aeron's body was dismembered by burn marks and marred skin from that fire in his past Dick would bet.

There's cutting scars on his wrists and arms and Wally had even swore to him that one night he saw some type of horrible skin deformation on Aeron's right shoulder blade but Dick never got an official look. The oddest thing both boys had noticed was the endless amount of scratch marks all over him, like as if he was always starching at his skin to get rid of something stuck inside.

All in all, Dick agreed with Wally.

Aeron Hyades was some sort of deranged creature out of a horror movie.

A tingling started at the bottom of Dick's back and he winced as Aeron drew closer to him, patting his cheek. "Hello Richard. Wallace over here isn't understanding what exactly I'm asking of you two. You see, you have no choice in the matter because of what is in your bloodstream but I figure I will allow you two compete this task in your own way. But if not then I will intervene."

Wally groaned in pain from the floor, willing himself to stand up as his accelerated healing worked speedily. "D-Don't listen to him Dick. He—he wants us to kill—"

Aeron cut Wally off, moving over and kicking him in the ribs for good measure.

"As I was saying. I have a very important mission for you two to compete. This will be the mission that allows you to show me that you are loyal to me—that Operation Blackout can finally be started. I'm going to give you the rest of the day and then three hours of the nighttime hours to yourself. In return after that final third hour, you will both be sent to kill your mentors."

Dick's stomach dropped, dropped down to his ankles.

Aeron wanted him to—to kill Bruce?

Dick unknowingly shook his head, taking a step back as the room started to spin around him.

"I-I can't kill B-Bruce," he mumbled, Aeron laughing mockingly.

"Once again, you have no choice my dear boy. This is the final step and then Operation Blackout will be ready to act on. So I suggest you use these free hours to yourselves wisely." Wally finally was able to stand up from the floor, moving over to where Dick stood and leaning on his shoulder.

"I-I won't do it." Wally gasped, flinching as Aeron sent a cold glare his way.

"It's either him or Artemis." Wally's eyes widened to the size of saucers and Dick tried desperately for his mind to stop spinning so that he could focus on the things happening in front of him.

"How do you—"

Aeron chuckled, waving his hand. "I hacked into the national database, got all of the information about you two and the rest of your little pathetic team. One of the many things bought by you by credit card, Wallace, was a silver engagement ring from a Tiffany's Store in Palo Alto. A side note on the digital receipt was the letters 'A-R-T-E-M-I-S' engraved on the inside of the ring. It was picked up from the store around five years ago."

Dick looked flabbergasted, "Wally, you were going to propose to Art?"

The speedster was confused and obviously flustered as he looked to his best friend, "Going to. I was going to."

"What happen—"

"This isn't the time for speaking about such nonsense you two so who will it be Wallace? Mentor or Missus West?" Dick wanted to slap the taunting smirk off Aeron's features, but he could see Wally's form sag as he came to his response. Aeron grinned at the two in front of him, clapping his hands together. "Perfect. By midnight tonight—Bruce Wayne and Barry Allen will be no more."

Dick _really_ wanted to murder Aeron in that moment.

* * *

i can't be your angel when i'm living like a devil

* * *

It was a second 'cure' that Aeron had been working on since turning himself. He wanted Dick and Wally to be his own breed of soldiers and he wasn't stopping until he was able to complete that. After both had died he entered the room and pumped them full of the FTO2-CO2-B he had been working on which ultimately threw them both into a type of shock as their hearts raced to mimic heart attacks and then they were brought back to the living, good as new.

But that wasn't all.

Not only was the cure laced with Scarecrow toxin but it also had a new element that had attacked itself onto their separated red blood cells like a virus. The virus then was able to control their every move like a brainwashing type of thing, when activated by Aeron.

It worked liked mind control.

Aeron could be, at max, up to twenty football fields away and it would still work as long as he didn't lose focus in controlling them. He could flip a switch inside of them and they would do everything he would relay through their mind, or he could just make them do a movement or fight for him.

That's why Dick and Wally were trapped with him, in his screwed up lab in the outskirts of Blüdhaven, for four damn years.

And they couldn't escape.

Wally is twenty six now and his lean form is staggering with new muscles forced upon him and grey marks seemingly glued under his eyelids. His green eyes aren't as bright with mischievousness anymore, his jokes have lost their dry humor and instead just cause you to roll your eyes with an unstoppable snicker and his hands are always fidgeting in place or drumming against something—like as if he is always itching to run right back home. His jawline is more defined, with a faded scar of the same lightning bolt that marked his suit and followed his family located on the left side of his lower cheek. It's tiny and the stopping points are jagged but it's there and he had tried every possible thing to get it off but nothing worked. Now he wears it without doubt, like how it's imprinted on his skin-tight suit. Wally's red hair is crazed and sticking up in the front, like faint outlines of spikes. The freckles on his cheeks seem odd with his now slightly tanned complexion, his hands marred with cuts and callouses from endless hours of training. His arms are still thin but now hold an array of muscles and scraggy sort of power while his chest is 'something out of a horror movie' as Wally would put it himself.

As for his Kid Flash suit; Aeron had changed it so that instead of it showing the bold colors of yellow and red it displayed a chilling black and grey that intermixed with each other to create a stunning contrast as well as be able to blend in with the darkness that seemed to follow him. His goggled were matte black and reflected the nighttime moon in their lenses sometimes and it caused Wally's heart to twinge when he would see an arrow someplace. The only thing that reminded Wally of home, the only scrap of home he still had left—was a faded picture of his family sitting on a red couch. Wally was probably only five at the time and he was seated on Barry's left leg, the latter's large hands holding onto Wally's tiny torso. Iris is standing next to them on the left of the couch, hand on Barry's shoulder in a reassuring squeeze, while Mary sits next to Rudy to the left of Wally's uncle.

Wally keeps it hidden in the snack compartment of his suit; behind whatever candy bars he stashes there and he holds onto the foggy memory that is attached the picture (Iris grabbing it from his hands one misty morning when Wally was seventeen and pointing out that the couch clashes heavily with his hair and then Barry snickering from the living room as Wally runs out to swat at him). A part of him thinks that when he gets back home, he'll marry Artemis so that no more 'what if's' surround him. Because he loves her too much to think clearly half the time.

Dick's twenty fourth birthday was nine days before the funeral. He and Wally shared it by stealing a triple deluxe chocolate lover's cake from Betty's Cake and Bake Shop down on fourth and nine in Blüdhaven, as risky as traveling out that way was (Wally had gotten a strawberry and fudge cake for himself, along with a freshly baked batch of twenty four chocolate chip cookies). Whenever Dick looked at himself in the mirror, he felt like a different person had stolen his actual image and that a fake was gawking back at him. His hair was black and sometimes blood was streaked in from the latest training regimen or punishment he would have to endure (because he _never_ did well with rules) but it was always smoothed down with whatever quick layer of hair gel he threw on it in the morning which always caused him to smell like freshly made wintergreen. His indigo eyes were more emotionless than they had ever been before, he didn't want Aeron to learn more about him, with a dark purple bruise starting to form over the left side of his temple. His sharp cheekbones were easy to see in any flickering light but the thin layer of obscure stumble he had yet to shave on his chin less noticeable in the shadows. He had grown another inch taller that actually brought him up to just about a few centimeters taller than Wally. His arms were bulky, he was determined on working out at all times because he would be lying if he didn't admit that an anger still bubbled inside of him for allowing all of this shit to happen to him, hands gritty and rough with taking down many thugs and very powerful men. His chest was marred, so damn marked that Wally sometimes blamed himself and other times can't look at his buddy shirtless when he would join him in the weight room. Dick understands because at times he wishes he had a different torso, one that didn't have so many cuts and burn marks scarring him. The brawl of his chest was larger now though, filled out as the rest of him was now.

Dick's Nightwing suit was now black and red, the bird on his chest serving as a sickening reminder of Jason and Tim because the red little bird was supposed to be Robin—Nightwing was blue (it didn't help that Jason's forever favorite color was blood red for some unusual reason). His suit was mainly the same because Aeron already knew it was fitted for the shadows, the only other main thing he tweaked was his arms. He told Dick that it was stupid to have no sleeves, that if he was ever captured it would never be possible to sneak things to escape. So he changed it to look like back how it did in January, Dick didn't have it in him to fight it.

The only thing he had that connected him to his past was a pocket sized Flying Grayson's poster that he had kept on his body subsequently joining the Young Justice Team and he had carried it with him on every mission he had been on since. It was weathered and the edges frayed, his parent's faces were nearly blended in with the white of the photo because of the repetitive motion of rubbing his thumb over that same spot so many times. On the back of the mini-sized poster was some bleeding black inked writing that was from his mother's beautiful cursive hand. It read 'keep this with you in times of need—love mamma and poppa' in Romani and the picture was as close to home as he could get.

All they have left are each other and now, after midnight that very night, the blood of their father figures dripping from their hands.

* * *

can't be your lover when i'm living like a rebel

* * *

He doesn't know why his mind brings him there.

Or what he thinks he'll be able to do considering he was supposed to be dead but he ends up on the ledge of the building across from where her apartment is, glassy eyes staring into her open kitchen window.

His domino mask is itchy and he feels vile with what he was tasked with to do from Aeron but he knows he can't avoid it. Aeron has complete control over him and his every movement—basically his every thought. To kill someone, that was bad. But to kill someone by force; someone who was his father . . . that was just impossible in Dick's eyes. Aeron knew what he was making the boys do so in return he was allowing them three hours of the nighttime hours to do what they wished.

Wally didn't wait any longer than he had to before darting off someplace and Dick just hoped that he was acting as stupid as he was by visiting her apartment.

His heart lurches when he sees her flutter into the kitchen, gently placing her empty plate in the sink and washing her hands. Dick gulps, feeling a warmth cover his body and heat in his lower gut.

She looked as beautiful as ever—long, black hair cascading down her back, cheekbones prominent and skin pastel yet as gorgeous as the night around him. He can see faint tracks of tear trails present on her face and though they aren't really noticeable they scream to Dick like tires on assault screeching to a stop.

She dries her hands and turns to grab a glass cup from the cabinet above her, her purple tank top riding up a little to allow Dick a short view of her lithe back muscles stirring with her movements. She moves over to the fridge and grabs a bottle of soda, popping the cap and pouring the liquid into the cup and Dick, as ravish as it is, really wants to grapple in there and pull Zatanna into a shameless kiss.

He had been keeping tabs on her and the rest of the team over the years to ensure that Gar didn't get into any bad trouble at school or Bart running too fast to a scene of crime.

Dick knew he had to move on, for many reasons, but the main being that she had a boyfriend now.

Actually, a fiancé.

He didn't like the man—Dick had dug into his dark past and found records of domestic assault along with getting arrested for drug use one time when he was a teenager. She had met him at a Bruce Wayne Charity Event (she had recently moved to Gotham about a year after his initial disappearance) and he had charmed her senseless. From then on they started dating and after three years of their relationship going strong with no reported mishaps he had proposed to her in September, which she said yes to.

Soon she would be the wife of Cooper Braxton; the wife to a big tough guy with a shady past.

Dick's Nightwing suit suddenly felt too tight on his body as he saw Cooper approach Zatanna from behind and wrap his arms around her waist; nuzzling his nose into her neck. Dick knew he was nothing compared to Cooper—the man was tall, probably around 6'2, with a chiseled out body and barren arms that showed he wasn't to be messed with. His black hair was a few shades lighter than Zatanna's (obviously dyed as Dick could guess), with brown eyes that seemed purple under certain lights.

A stinging feeling overtook his heart as Zatanna turned and kissed him full on the lips, pulling away to mumble something to him. Dick sighed as he started to stand up, grabbing his grapple gun from his belt and aiming it at one of the buildings to the right of him.

But, something caught his eye.

No longer trying to kiss him, Zatanna was pushing against Cooper as his hands tried to tug off her blue jeans. Dick narrowed his eyes as he gets more forceful and he doesn't waste time in shooting his grapple gun and walking off the edge of the building, swinging across the gap and landing next to the open window, hands clutching at the black wire holding him and ears open.

"Copper, get off. I can smell the alcohol on your breath." Zatanna's voice was growing unhinged as she tried to keep herself together and Dick understood then and there that she hadn't told him of her powers. If she wasn't at risk of exposing her superhero life, she would've flung him across the room by now.

Dick held his breath as he heard a smash and his mind started screaming at him that he should enter but he fought off the urge; promising himself that he would only step in if needed. He couldn't risk being seen.

"Come on 'tanna. S'fine. Let's go have some wild 'ex—"

A hit on his chest.

"Get away from me Cooper. You're drunk."

A loud sound of skin on skin. Dick's blood boiled but he held himself back.

"Where do you think you're going bitch?"

Dick launched himself into the apartment at the sound of her scream and a body hitting the floor—Zatanna feeling pain engulf her as the darkness took over.

* * *

you better take care of yourself

* * *

Dick nearly jumps out of his own skin when Zatanna lets out what sounds like a cry from beside him on the bed she's laying on. He calmly grabs the voice changer from the nightstand next to him, clicking the button once to turn it on.

She groans, fighting to get her body to listen to her and open her eyes. Or at least she tries to because when she struggles with forcing her eyelids open it feels like there's something holding them shut and she panics.

Her breathing became short and her heart raced as something in her mind muttered 'stuck' and she let out a scared sort of whimper. Dick cuffs her face with his hands softly, moving himself so that he's straddling her waist so that she doesn't shoot him away with a spell or something.

He shushes her calmly, thumbs stroking her cheeks.

"You're okay Zee, everything's alright. I took care of him, he's gone. He won't bother you again. Your eyes are just bruised and crusted over with some tears. But you'll be fine. He was able to knock you out, there's a bruise on your head but that's it. You've been out for an hour."

There's something calming in the unknown man's motives and Zatanna slows her breathing and lets out a shaky breath, willing her voice to work. "Thank y-you," she whispers and she feels lips gently brush her temple.

"Your welcome," something cold and wet is placed into her left hand, "this is a cold washcloth, dab at your eyes gently for a few seconds to get all the crap out and then you should be able to open your eyes."

She nods barely and feels his body move off of her own. She lifts the cloth to her eyes, starting to rub gingerly. "W-Who are y-you? Why did you s-save me?"

He chuckles and it reminds her of someone who was never found.

"Let's just say I'm someone you used to know." The voice is disarticulated and broken, deep and raspy.

"D-Dick?" It's a stupid guess because she knows he's gone but she can't think of anyone else who would put themselves at risk to save her.

The man presses a soft kiss to her lips and filled with fervor and longing and its over too quick when he pulls away. "I love you Zee. Be safe."

There's a soft breeze of air over her face as she is finally able to open her eyes and she simply sees that she's in her room and the window to the left of her is wide open; wind barreling in and slapping against the curtains. Her savior is gone.

* * *

i'm addicted to the misery in my head

* * *

Wally sits at his supposed grave, mind racing too fast for him to fully grab any of the thoughts filtering through it.

Killing Uncle Barry?

That was impossible.

It was _literally_ impossible.

Wally couldn't do that—tear him away from Iris and Bart. Tear them away from their own anchor. Out of all of the things Aeron had made them do other the years he had never allowed killing; it was like an unsaid rule.

But why, _why_ , was he trying to destroy them now by making them kill their father figures?

Wally would gladly rob a bank for crash course training or take a million punishments instead, if it met that he could save Barry. He didn't want to kill him. A part of him wished he was dead from one of the many escape attempts Dick and he had put together and failed at; a part of him wished Aeron had succeeded in going too far and had stabbed him through the heart.

Because Wally knew, God he knew, that if he killed Barry—he would _never_ be able to live with himself. He just wouldn't be able to.

He would be a murderer.

A freaking _murderer_ ; one that haunted the news and clogged up the Most Wanted posters at the police station.

There's a static sound from his ear com that shakes the speedster from his thoughts and he silently lifts two fingers to turn it on. "Kid Flash." His voice is neutral as he answers and his gut twists at Aeron's laughter from the other end.

"Free time is up Wallace. Now either you go there yourself and kill him or I do it my way."

Wally wipes a tear away from his eye, standing up and wiping the specks of dirt from his suit. "I'm on my way to Central City right now. Flash out." Wally took out the ear com without waiting for a response, throwing it to the ground and smashing it with his foot.

He hated being told what to do.

* * *

i better stop before i end up dead

* * *

Bruce turns around in his office chair at the sound of someone moving behind him but is only meant by the flickering desk lamp sitting on the table in front of him. He rubs at the unshaved stubble on his blocky chin, fixing the stapler that had been moved a quarter of an inch from the speedy movement of whoever entered the room from the window.

"Step out of the shadows now or I'll break your arm in six places."

He expected it to be one of Riddler's thugs to be honest—they would be one of the only Gotham criminals that could ever be able to break into Wayne Manor without tripping any alarms. But nothing prepared him for the actual person that stepped out of the shadows in front of him and when Bruce saw the blue of Dick's Nightwing suit he vaulted himself out of his seat to try and hug him.

Dick took several steps back to avoid being hugged and Bruce could tell he was having an inner conflict of some sort take over his mind. "Don't make t-this any harder than it has to be B-Bruce. _Please_." Bruce was shell-shocked at the modest tone of Dick's voice, the raw emotion bleeding from it and broken letters.

Bruce raised his hands in surrender, "I can't believe you're alive. I never lost hope son." It's a challenge to keep his voice so steady and that's when his eyes adjust to the dimmed light and he sees Dick reaching for something located on the side of his belt, pulls something out of a hostler. "Son," there's a tremor in his tone.

A twitch of fear.

Dick raises the gun with trembling fingers and Bruce can see that the safety is off and that there's a long muzzled silencer on the end of it. The pistol is menacing. "I don't want to do this Bruce," his voice shakes and Bruce can hear the faint chatter of his fingernails on the metal of the gun.

"Then don't son."

He takes a step towards Dick and the latter steps back again, his back colliding with the wall. His finger squeezes the trigger faintly, "Y-You don't understand Bruce! I-I don't have a choice! Hyades, h-he is—he has us controlled! W-We've tried to escape so many _damn_ times and he's caught us and punished us and God Bruce I've done—we've done—so many bad things that we didn't want to do! I don't want to do this." Dick's voice, which had been a muffled shout throughout his words, turned into a defeated mutter at the end which broke Bruce's heart.

He had to help his son.

"Dickie, it's okay. Everything is okay. Just hand me the gun, son. I can make it better." Dick felt the buzzing in the back of his head and fear seized him like a hand clutching his heart—Aeron was going to kill him. His father was going to die if he pulled the trigger or not. Bruce raised his hand and moved it towards the gun, fingers grazing the silencer.

"B-Bruce—I-I c-can't stop. He's going t-to—"

Bruce shushed him, moving another step closer.

"It's okay Dickie bird. I love you and we can get through this. That's all that matters. Even if I don't make it through this, you will." He cracked a smile and Dick felt the tears hit him all at once as they fell down his cheeks one after another.

Bruce hadn't called him that nickname since he was little. He would use it to calm him after bad nightmares, he would use it to scold him for running down the stairs and Alfred would use it to yell at him for putting three cookies into his mouth at once.

"It'll be okay Dick. Trust me."

He could feel Aeron taking control of him now, his fingers starting to move of his own accord.

"Tată, ajută-mă. _Please_ tata."

Bruce smiled gently at Dick's Romani peeking through his words, fitting in and out.

"I love you Dick. Remember that." There was a flash of understanding on Bruce's face, an empathetic that Dick couldn't get out of it.

Aeron took full control and before Dick knew what was happening—his finger was tugging at the trigger and a bullet was fired from the gun; landing directly in Bruce's forehead. Dick screamed and scream and as Bruce's body crumbled to the ground he threw the gun across the room and lowered to his knees, holding tight onto his father's limp form.

Outside, an owl hooted once which was followed by a cricket chirping.

Dick's sobs were quiet against the nighttime noise.

* * *

so i climb to the top just to fall to the bottom

* * *

Wally gets to his Uncle's house at the exact time Barry is downstairs getting a glass of water for himself. He hears the swish of air behind him and turns around to see his nephew pulling off his cowl. Barry nearly drops the glass as he places it on the counter so he can rush over and pull Wally into a bone crushing hug.

Barry lets out a watery chuckle that breaks Wally's fragile heart into pieces and the red head can't hold in the sobs anymore as they fall out of him and salty tears dampen Barry's pajamas. The older man simply holds onto Wally tight, their hands clutching the other's shirt like a lifeline. "I knew you couldn't be dead Kid, I knew you would've outrun it."

Wally gasps and it's ridden so heavily with cries that it's nearly impossible for him to speak.

"Hyades—Uncle Barry he wants me t-to . . . Uncle B-Barry."

Wally feels like he did back when he was eleven and his father had yelled at him for stealing a twenty out of his wallet so Wally could fit in at school and buy the other kids' lunch. Rudy had gotten a little too worked up and his screams had terrified Wally so much that he ran all the way to Barry's house and the uncle sat there holding Wally for hours.

He was the same sobbing mess then as he was right now.

"I knew that bastard took you. Bruce said he was untraceable but I swear I checked every damn place in Gotham and Central and—"

"B-Blüdhaven. T-The lab is in Blüdhaven." Wally is barely able to choke it out and he can feel Aeron in the depths of his mind and his hands twitching in need of killing. He hates it and Barry pulls back and the smile on his face is so huge Wally thinks his face will crack under the pressure.

He holds Wally at arm's length and squeezes his shoulders happily, "Is so good to have you back kiddo. I've missed you. I've missed you a lot."

Wally shakes his head, hands vibrating sensitively. "U-Uncle Barry l-listen, h-h—he put some type of shit in our blood t-that makes u-us do things that we have no control over. And n-now—now he wants me to kill you."

Barry's face morphs into one of shock and then a sadness follows. "K-Kid, we can get you out of this. C'mon we can head to the cave and have Bruce call in the best doctors and—"

"No!" Wally's quiet shout silences Barry and he gives his nephew a hard look as Wally pushes himself backwards. "B-Barry I can't, I don't, I don't have any time ti—time. I'm so freakin' sorry I couldn't get out of this Barry but he's g-gonna—your gonna die. By m-me!" Wally shouts out in frustration at his unstoppable stuttering and Barry glances towards the stairs to make sure he didn't wake up Iris.

Barry's lips twitch into a smile for a second before flickering back to look at Wally who is hiccupping softly. His body is jittering, hands quaking as they fumble over themselves. Barry sighs in resentment, "I-I understand Kid. Listen, it's okay. It's okay."

Wally feels wrong about how much his uncle's voice calms him as he grows dizzy. Aeron takes control and makes his body shoot forward, pushing Barry into the wall with his hands around his throat. Wally looks horrified at what he's doing and Barry grins shortly, choking. Wally can barely stand to look into his eyes as Aeron makes him literally drain the life from him.

"Uncle Barry I—I'm—"

Barry is able to grab one of Wally's hands with his own, sending him a wink as he feels his lungs congest.

"I-I love y-you K—Kid. S-S—Survive."

He gags on his own final words and then his eyes slack and his body goes limp and Aeron let's go of his hold on Wally as the young man jerks his hand backwards so Barry's body can drop to the floor with a soft thump.

"Uncle B-Barry?" Wally questions bleakly, nudging the older man's shoulder and causing his head to merely loll from one side to another. "I'm sorry." He whispers, taking Barry's cold hand in his own.

He cries quietly while Iris stays sound asleep upstairs, Bart lost in a dream world of the Flash running circles around him up in Wally's old bedroom.

* * *

don't try and save me go take care of yourself

* * *

"What's going on? Why did you call us here so early Ollie?" Artemis questions as she and Ace zeta into the cave's mission room, the former grabbing Oliver by the arm to make sure her question isn't avoided. Zatanna gets a quick hug from Ace as she moves to her best friend's side.

As soon as Ace sees M'gann enter from the kitchen with Conner at her side he runs towards them and gives them a tight hug, then one to Kaldur and another to Jamie who laughs and mutters something in Spanish as he pats the young boy on the back (Ace loved Jamie and Bart for some reason). The rest of the League stands in front of the new and old Young Justice team together and Cassie is the one who notices the absence of the bat family and flashes.

"Where's Bats? Actually, where's the annoying bat family? And Flash and Impulse?"

Gar meanders into the room and hides behind Conner, grabbing his hand because the bad feeling in his gut isn't growing any better.

Clark says nothing as Artemis tugs at Oliver's arm, repeating her question. Before anyone knows what is happening, a million different news articles are on the holographic computer.

And the many different titles shake everyone to their very core.

 **BRUCE WAYNE MURDERED!** and **IS MILLIONAIRE'S DEATH AN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT?** along with **NO EVIDENCE FOUND AT THE MURDER SCENE OF WEALTHY GOTHAM CITIZEN BRUCE WAYNE** stared the team back in their faces, the different titles and fonts mocking them from the computer.

 **GENIUS BARRY ALLEN FOUND MURDERED IN SUBURBAN HOME** plus **CENTRAL CITY CITIZEN FOUND DEAD IN HOME WITH WIFE AND DISTANT COUSIN JUST UPSTAIRS** with finally **NO BLOOD ON SCENE OF SHOCKING DEATH—CASE STUMPING CCPD!** gawking upon the people surrounded in the room.

Jamie had the common sense to turn Ace's shoulders so the boy was buried in his scrawny chest as Artemis' hand flew over her mouth. "Jamie!" Ace whined, the former Blue Beetle whispering things into Jamie's ear as he held Ace against him softly. He hushed the younger boy, rubbing his back.

"Just stay there for a minute amigo. There's some scary stuff on screen alright?"

Ace groaned loudly, the only sound in the room was Jamie and his conversation. "Fine, is Uncle Arrow watching another scary movie?"

Jamie sighed shakily as Oliver brought Artemis in close for a hug. "Yeah amigo. A _really_ scary movie."


	6. six

**_This_** **chapter contains:**

Spoilers: Season 1 and 2

Random Lyrics from: No More Secrets by Papa Roach

Pairings: Dick and Artemis brotherly/sisterly relationship (could be viewed as Traught if any of you want it to be), Spitfire bits, Dick and Jason brotherly relationship and cute Ace bonding with someone we all know and love.

Extra Notes: I spent all day on this because I have no life and I wanted to be positive I included the new idea I had for this chapter in here and so here is an early update. :) As the note says below, Jason (who as you can guess makes a special appearance in this chapter) will look like how he does in the Batman video game Batman: Arkham Knight. I liked how he looked in the DLC and in general for that game so that's what I'm rolling with for this story.

 _This_ chapter is **rated teen for** vulgar language (ahem, all Jason's fault), descriptive crime reviews and mention of injury (this is the lightest chapter this story has ever seen now that I look back at it, I even have some sweet little flashbacks in here).

* * *

NOTE: Jason, Red Hood, in this story looks like how he does in the video game Batman: Arkham Knight.

* * *

i suffer to survive

* * *

It just doesn't fit, doesn't make sense.

Artemis sat by herself on the couch in the living room of the cave, hands drumming a rhythm on the armrest and mind stuck in a completely different place. The deaths of her two supposed father figures didn't make any sense to her, sure, they had a lot of enemies but for an enemy to be smart enough to kill both without leaving any fingerprints behind or blood for that matter—that's why Artemis found herself with reason to believe that Wally and Dick were still alive.

Nobody else would know the houses, no one else could sneak around and catch them off guard plus there was an unknown DNA found on Barry's skin in the form of a body pressing up against his (like a hug) while there also was unknown DNA in certain places on Bruce's body; like as if someone was checking for a pulse and then put their ear against his heart while holding him in their arms.

Artemis knew no one else would believe her but Wally was _alive_ and Dick was _alive_ and she was going to find that out even if it was the last thing she would do. She sighed as her mind brought up another question—if her two best friends _were_ alive and they _were_ at their 'fathers' side during their last breath; how did they get there and what in the hell were they doing near two separate crime scenes?

How did they even know about the crimes and why didn't they come back sooner?

At times Dick was an asshole and seemed to be able to tell the future with his damned smirk and hallow cackle (mostly after one of his pranks) but he was also good at sensing when someone needed help.

Artemis' mind was suddenly thrown into the remembrances of her older teenager days, where Wally assisted his uncle with dangerous Central City crime or murder cases at nighttime. Whenever Wally went out with Barry, back when Artemis and Wally were seventeen and eighteen respectively, to investigate some type of serious crime where his life was on the line she would be one hell of a fidgety person while home alone that certain night.

But then, not even an hour after Wally had left for his hazardous mission of the night, there would be a soft knock at the door. Artemis would scamper over to open it and Dick would be standing there still clad in his Nightwing suit and domino mask like as if he had cut his patrol early for her. He would lift his hand out from behind his back and hold out some type of gauche comedy movie and send her a coy smile.

She would let him in and he would head into her and Wally's room to get changed into the spare garb of civvies he had stored in Wally's closet (black tee shirt, black sweatpants and an extra pair of his classic sunglasses) before heading back out to the living room to see Artemis bundled up in a cozy blanket with a large bowl of extra buttered popcorn waiting for them on the coffee table in front of her.

She wouldn't look at him and instead waited for him to take a seat next to her on the couch before pressing play on the remote and the movie would start playing through the Blu-ray Player while they started munching on burnt (or raw depending on how great of a cook Artemis felt like being that certain night) popcorn.

Then, without fail, sometime throughout the movie thoughts of Wally's bleeding body garbled with death would enter her thoughts and tears would slip down her cheeks mutely. Dick would look over and not say anything at first but simply correcting his shades and then moving closer to her, slinging and arm around her and holding her tight.

She would move her head so it rested soundlessly on his chest and her tears would dampen his shirt but he never cared.

A good time after she would sit there in the comfort of having someone to care, he would lean down and press a friendly kiss to her forehead—to calm her down as much as he could. Then Dick would speak for the first time that whole night, as each time it happened they would mostly operate in complete and utter silence, and he would speak with a hushed voice and concerned tone with words that were louder than the movie playing, in her ears.

All he would say, each and every damn time, was the same exact thing. The same three words that would twist her world around and cause the different types of deaths of her boyfriend to disappear from her brain.

He would say, "You're okay Art." and even though Artemis had no idea who he was behind the shades, cocky smiles and stupid gibes—she knew she could trust him and she knew he would always be there for her when Wally was away and she understood why the two guys were such great friends.

And sometimes she would mutter a discreet 'thank you' and other times she would say nothing at all but all that mattered was that they were there for each other. All that mattered was the fact of his warm arms around her, fingers tapping a pattern into her back, the fact of his care and the whole of his being.

Artemis did a double take of where she was at after the memory left her and she blinked a few times, trying to shake the thought from her memory and recollect her thinking.

The point she was getting to anyway, was that Dick just knew things sometimes. He knew when someone needed a friend and he just knew when someone needed a hug. So did he possibly know about the two deaths and told Wally about each and then both went to go and see if they could stop them? But if that was true, why didn't they call in to the League and ask for help? Why try to stop a destruction by themselves?

There was the possibility that they accidentally stumbled into the two deaths but it was too abnormal to even be considered. Artemis rubbed at her forehead, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the bulk of her knees with her head between her hands. Now, there was one thing Artemis was avoiding considering completely but it was absurd to even think about. Dick and Wally could've killed—

"No Artemis stop that. They wouldn't kill them, Wally is too big of a wimp and Dick loves Bruce." She stopped that though process completely, no way could her two best friends be murderers. That was crazy. There was a sudden tug on her sleeve and she lifted her head from her hands to see Ace's small form standing in front of her. Artemis smiled, sitting up and crossing her wrists haphazardly.

"Hey baby, what's up?"

"Momma, what's going on?"

Artemis did her best to keep the apprehensive expression off her face as she took one of her son's hands in her own. "What do you mean?" Ace looked troubled, his eyes equal to that of a person who had seen too much in this world.

"This morning, when Uncle Arrow was watching that scary movie, you guys all seemed really scared. Are you scared that one of the things from the movie is gonna get you Momma?"

After Oliver had pulled her away from everyone else in the mission room and calmed her enough so that Ace would think nothing wrong, everyone held a secret promise to Artemis that they would act as normal as possible around Ace so he didn't suspect anything, and when she walked back out to the main room Jamie had pulled her aside and told her what he had told Ace.

She had thanked him greatly, or as greatly as a stressed mother could do at the time, and the two of them had headed to the living room where Artemis put a sandwich and some chips on one of his Batman kid plates before walking over to the couch and losing herself in her musings on the murders.

Ace thought of Jamie and Bart as his two older brothers and the three always hung out around the cave and Artemis was happy that Ace was so outgoing and the life of the room. She had figured the best way to go about secret IDs and superpowers was to tell Ace that everyone was special and that he couldn't tell anything about his 'family' to anyone.

The little guy had kept true to his promise since and even used Oliver's superhero alias when they were around other people and it only caused Artemis to love her little guy even more. He was such a great person and everyone in the Justice League welcomed him and accepted him as his own and the Young Justice Team bonded with him like friends would.

Artemis, Bruce and Barry also had a meeting about what Ace would call all of the Justice League and they all agreed with 'uncle' and 'aunt' because it was simple and everyone wanted them to be like a family anyway. They all cared about Ace and would do anything to keep him safe. Artemis rubbed Ace's arms up and down in a motherly fashion, "No baby, we aren't scared and you shouldn't be scared of anything either. We are just worried about something that happened to Grandpa Barry and Uncle Bruce." She whispered, Ace looking confused.

"What happened to Grandpa Barry Momma?"

"Come here baby," she pulled him onto her lap, Ace adjusting himself so he was propped up on one of her legs; "listen—remember how I told you that your dad was going to be gone for a while?"

Ace nodded and his eyes lit up as a toothy smile spread across his features, "Is Daddy coming home?"

She didn't want to say anything that Ace could accidentally babble about to the League but she also didn't have it in her to say another lie. All of Ace's life, each Christmas and birthday—he would always ask where his dad was at. Artemis would have to come up with countless excuses and each one crushed his heart, hell, she could tell.

She didn't want to be that person anymore.

So, she settled for the truth.

Artemis chuckled softly, pinching his elbow as he tried to squirm away from her peaceful touch. "I think they switched places baby, so Grandpa Barry is going to be gone for a little while. But,"

"But what Momma? Daddy?"

She glanced down at her son and his eyes were wide with cheerfulness, wide with discovery. She loved him you know. She always would, even if her suspicions about Wally and Dick were false and they weren't really alive. In response she ran her fingers through his blonde hair, playing with the curled ends.

"I think your dad is on his way home Ace. I think he's finally coming back to protect us from the monsters in this world."

Ace let out a loud hurray and jumped out of Artemis' arms and his lips were stretched so wide across his face Artemis was surprised he could smile that much. He jumped around the room and even turned back around to give his mother a hug before pulling away and laughing thankfully.

"This is _awesome_ Momma! I've missed him so much, I can't wait to meet him!" He continued to talk, words flying at his mouth at the speed of how Bart ranted when he was excited and Artemis couldn't help but grin. "Momma, Momma! Does he have special powers like Uncle Clark? Or shoot arrows at the bad guys like Uncle Ollie? Is he super, super fast like Grandpa Barry?"

Artemis chuckled quietly, wringing her hands. "He's the best superhero of them all bud, he's not as fast as your grandpa but he is amazing and caring and I'm sure Ace, I'm damn sure he'll tug you into the tightest hug you've ever been in and kiss your forehead and tell you that everything will be okay." Ace didn't seem to hear Artemis as she whispered the words to herself, a sad smile hitting her lips as she stared at the ground in front of her.

Her mind protected a see through version of her boyfriend in front f her, cheeks pale and lips in a smirk. She didn't care if she was going crazy or seeing his ghost. All she did was say the words she had been longing to say for a while.

"I've missed you so much Baywatch."

* * *

i gotta, gotta, gotta stay alive

* * *

"So here was where the body was found, we checked around the entire place and the only disruption we found was the fact that the window over here was opened up with a lock pick." Jim Gordon walked over to the window with Artemis following, careful to watch the white outline of tape on the ground. He pointed at the lock, which was noticeably damaged and then turned back to Artemis.

"What I think happened is the perp somehow, which this is still baffling me, made it through all of Wayne's security protocols and then entered through this window. Now I think Wayne figured out someone was in the room with him and turned around, standing up and moving over here." Jim nodded his head towards where a small yellow 'x' made from tape was placed on the wooden floor. "Then he talked to the perp for some amount of time before a shot was fired."

Artemis hid her shudder, turning to Jim. "Was it a fatal shot or did he bleed out on the way to the hospital?"

He sighed, crossing his arms and looking distressed and it took him a minute before he cleared his throat and spoke. "He uh, he didn't make it to any hospital. When we got here, I took point and walked in here to find Wayne in a pool of his own blood. Single shot to the middle of his forehead. It was too late for us to do anything."

A shiver ran down her spine and a part of her started to regret this idea of investigating the crimes on her own. "That means he's good with guns, a marksman of some sort right?"

Jim shook his head, "Not necessarily. It could've been a lucky shot or he threated Wayne to stand completely still and then aimed."

Artemis looked to Jim skeptically, "A point blank shot right in the middle? That can't be just a lucky shot." She deadpanned and Jim raised his eyebrows.

"You seem to know a lot about killing,"

"Natural talent. I'm good with arrows. Did you check to see the possibility of the perp being hired to kill Bruce? That would make sense why there were no traces of anything and it was done so seamlessly." Artemis quickly detoured the conversation from treading into hazardous waters as she glanced around Bruce's office again.

Jim exhaled unsurely, "I don't think it was that. Honestly Miss Crock—"

"Artemis."

"—Artemis, I'm still trying to figure out how a no name thug got in here and killed Wayne without triggering any silent alarms or Wayne himself breaking a few bones of the guy. I mean, Wayne lost his parents when he was little. He knows how a gun works. Something stopped him from attacking the guy and getting himself out."

"You think so?"

Jim scoffed, heading towards the door, "I knew the man, everyone did. You've seen him, he's huge and tough as hell. You really think a stupid thug to get the better of him?" Artemis didn't answer, her eyes looking over to the window and then back to Jim at the doorway. "You said your apart of what part of the force again?"

Artemis drummed her fingers against the skin of her arm, "SCPD, Oliver Queen sent me to find out what you have on the case so far." Jim laughed, shaking his head. "What?"

"Artemis, don't peg me for someone who's stupid. What is your relationship to Wayne?"

Artemis debated her answer. What was she doing here? Trying to find evidence of Dick or Wally? Finding justice for Bruce? Trying to ease her crazy worries?

"He was my best friend's father. I'm just trying to get to the bottom of it." Jim studied Artemis for a moment; closed up emotions, hard face, curt, worry lines faintly etched in her cheeks.

"He was like a father to you, wasn't he?"

Artemis nodded her head once. "My dad wasn't the best. I meant Bruce through—"

"Richard, right?"

" . . . yeah. Dick."

Jim connected the pieces all of a sudden and the relation seemed to slap him hard in the face. "Wallace and Richard were your friends?"

"Best friends. Wally was my boyfriend. I loved him. A lot."

"So Wayne and Allen were protective over you and you looked up to them like fathers right?"

Artemis chuckled softly, not at all surprised that Jim was able to put the pieces together. She looked up at him through her eyelashes, "That's right Commissioner," He stared at her for a few seconds, face wiped of any emotion as Artemis waited for what he would say next.

"I'm sorry for your losses. But I have to ask, were you really native enough to think something would never happen? You don't seem like a woman who's been hidden from the bad things in the world." She let out an uneven breath and tugged at her fingernails.

"I just thought they would always be able to outrun it. Death. Thought it would never be able to corner them."

Jim sent her a smile, "Not every battle is a war. Remember that kid. I'm going to call in a favor with the head of police down in Central City. I have a feeling you'll be heading to that crime scene next."

"Thank you Commissioner. For everything." Jim sent her a wave before walking out of the room and leaving Artemis all alone. She let out a breath before wasting no time and moving over to the window. The way the lock was left was odd, any killer on the run would want to cover up evidence that they were even there. So why leave the lock all mangled? Why not pick it cleaner?

She stared at it for another second before a questioning thought struck her.

"Wait, wait, wait. Lock pick." She allowed her sentence to trail off as she touched the lock, inspecting it. She found what she was looking for a second later, pulling back the small tip of the pick on her index finger.

" _So Bird-Brain, where did you learn to lock pick so well with your fancy ass gloves?"_

 _Dick rolled his eyes as he continued to pick the door lock, Artemis' eyes darting around uncertainly as she kept watch for any brutes. "You should watch your language, I'm only thirteen Art. Wonder what Bats would do if he got word—"_

" _Oh please Bird-Brain, don't even act as if I didn't hear you stub your toe on the couch that one time, you were like a drunken sailor."_

 _Dick was glad she couldn't see his flushed cheeks under the pale moonlight as he nearly dropped the pick. "It hurt," he answered simply, grinning when he heard the click of the lock undoing. "Got it." The door creaked open slowly as Dick stood up and turned towards Artemis. The vibrant 'R' symbol on his suit twinkled in the moonlight._

" _Little troll," Artemis grumbled, loading an arrow into her quiver, "stupid little lock picking Bird-Brain."_

 _He grinned and his eyes sparkled with mischief, "Jealous there Art? Your ego must be staggering," She moved forwards and socked him in the shoulder, looking down when something crunched under her foot. She moved her foot back as Dick murmured a small 'ow' before crouching down and picking up the tip of his lock pick with his finger. "This is the only problem with my fancy gloves. After I pick something, the tip of the lock pick gets jammed and then it falls out when the door or window gets moved. I still need to fix it before Bats finds out."_

 _Artemis scoffed, "What's the big deal? No one is gonna find some small ass piece of metal point from your gloves."_

 _Dick sighed, standing up and pulling out three batarangs (robarangs as he liked to nickname them) from his belt, "Any evidence that's left behind puts Bats and I at risk of being caught. Can't have that." A sudden shout came from inside the darkened warehouse and Dick put a gloved hand on his grapple gun._

" _Then you better get that fixed Bird-Brain, wouldn't want to piss off Bats."_

 _Dick smirked, "Maybe in a few years."_

 _With that he pressed a button on his grapple gun and disappeared in the shadows, his cackle bouncing off the walls. Artemis cussed shortly as she dived into the room and took cover behind a crate as the lights switched on._

" _Stupid damn little trolling ass kid," She mumbled as she shot an explosive arrow towards a group of criminals._

The memory slammed into her like a ton of bricks as she let the metal fall from her fingers and onto the floor. "Dick . . . you're alive," she muttered, happy tears causing her eyes to glass over slightly. She knew for a fact he had never got around to fixing the gloves, she had teased him constantly about it for years. "Dick left the lock looking like this on purpose. He knows the place like the back of his hand, that's how he got in without triggering anything, that's why Bruce didn't turn around and—" her trail of thought froze as the true answer revealed itself.

A gasp escaped her without warning and her mind went into overdrive.

"Dick killed Bruce. Dick killed his father in cold blood."

* * *

i know what i'm fighting for . . .

* * *

Oliver laughed as Ace tackled Jamie to the couch, the two wrestling fruitlessly. He had agreed to keep an eye on Ace so Artemis could run out and do some errands for Paula (and even though Oliver knew she was lying he let her go anyway, he figured he would question her endlessly once she got back) and the two had been messing around for about twenty minutes now.

Something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention suddenly and as he flipped around with his bow raised, he dropped it a second after seeing it was Bart standing there. He was dressed in civvies and breathing heavy, cheeks wind-burned and eyes still dripping tears.

Jamie and Oliver didn't waste a second in running over and firing questions, leaving Ace alone on the couch cushion.

He watched them curiously, wondering if the reason why Bart was so sad was because Grandpa Barry had gone away for a while, until a flash of red caught his eye from the hallway leading to the separate rooms. He jumped off the couch and walked over, seeing another red flash dart through his vision that led him into Dick's old bedroom.

Ace entered slowly, seeing nothing but an empty bed and blank walls.

He went to turn around and leave only to find that the door had been shut gently behind him and a man dressed in a red sweatshirt and metal armor underneath, a picture of a red bird spreading it's wings out jaggedly across the brawl of his chest overtop of black and grey military coloring. There was a red mask over where the man's face was supposed to be, Ace's reflection staring back at him and the curves of it smoothed to near perfection. Two holsters clung to his hips, pistols located in each and the belt of his jeans holding many different gadgets and things from what Ace could see. The man stood oddly, like as if his back wasn't perfectly straight and there was a heavy slouch to his shoulders.

Ace trembled as he tried to back up, only to find his back hiding the covers of the bed as he scurried onto it. "W-Who are y-you?"

The man sighed and it was warbled like as if a permanent voice changer was embedded into his mask as he leaned back against the door.

"I'm your worst nightmare kid, but only if you don't tell me what I want to know."

* * *

no more secrets, no more lies

* * *

"What are you relations to this case again?" David Singh questioned as he held the front door of Barry's house open to Artemis who carefully followed after him.

"Barry and I were close." She kept it short and David shook his head with a chuckle.

"No wonder Jim called you in a favor, you both share the cold shoulder attitude. But, that's alright—I've had enough experience with that in all categories."

Artemis stayed silent as they made it to the hallway leading into the kitchen, white tape outlining what used to be where the sagged form of Barry sat. The time was in crazy lines as it crossed from being on the floor to appearing on the wall and then back again.

David noticed Artemis' confusion and spoke on account of the messy tape, "We wanted to get the tape as close to Barry's body as possible for maximum recreation. We found his body leaned against the wall." Artemis nodded and as she looked around she noticed the house was spotless. If she was going to find any evidence that Wally was there, let alone a murderer—it was going to be a tedious project.

"Who found him?"

David turned his shoulder out of the way and pointed towards the stairs, "His wife Iris. She reported that he wasn't in bed when her alarm went off in the morning and came down downstairs to look for him . . . um and that's when she found him." Artemis felt horrible, repulsed even. Poor Iris was the one who found him?

"Was he dead or—"

"He had been dead a while when Iris found him, it looks like he was killed near midnight." Artemis exhaled shakily, looking towards the stairs and then back down to where the tape rested.

"How was he killed?"

David shook his head, "He was choked out near twelve midnight and the tox-screen came back and showed nothing in his system that would've stopped air flow. The crook entered through the front door and then left promptly after choking Barry through the back door." David scratched at his head, a muddled look overcoming his face. "There is visually no evidence anywhere. It's like the crook came in, did what had to be done, mourned a little and then went."

"Mourned?"

He nodded towards the tape, "Oils from a different skin were found firstly on Barry's neck from the choking and then in multiple spots on his shirt; like as if the guy felt for a pulse and attempted CPR before leaving. It's an odd case alright."

Artemis sighed, "Do you mind if I just look around for a second on my own Captain?"

David smiled shortly, "Of course. I'll be right outside once you're ready to leave."

"Thank you Captain," Once David left Artemis didn't waste time in heading to the kitchen and looking all around the counter closest to the door.

Wally _always_ knocked into something or moved something when he went out the back door so that Artemis would know where he was when she would look around the house and find him nowhere. He used it every time he had ran out on his own to help Barry or stop a simple robbery. Her finger's hit the glass bowl where the spare set of keys for the house was left and froze when she saw the drop of blood on the counter and the stack of sticky notes over it to hide it.

" _Babe, I'm sorry. Please don't be mad, it's just a little scratch I swear." Artemis said nothing and in return roughly wiped at the gash located just above Wally's ribcage, causing the red head to wince. "Artemis come on. It's nothing, I'll be fine. The accelerated healing will kick in within an hour and I'll be good as new."_

 _Wally had saw a story on the news about an ongoing robbery and he had charged to action since Barry was in Nebraska on an undercover mission with Bruce. He had flipped over a bowl on the kitchen counter to show Artemis that he had left (because she was in the bathroom at the time) and had headed out._

 _The next thing either one of them knew, Wally had saved everyone and was shot on his way out—the teenager running back to his and Artemis' Palo Alto apartment before collapsing in a pile of blood in the living room._

 _The news had caught an in action picture of his getting shot on the news. Artemis had pulled the bullet out after half dragging, half carrying Wally to the bathroom and had not said a word._

 _Wally knew she was mad about him putting himself at risk again._

" _Baby, it was either the bullet entering me or the little girl I saved." Her eyes met his sharply and his lips tugged into a frown. "That picture? The one on the news? It only shows me being shot from the angle it was taken. What it does show is me shielding the little girl they were about to kill with my body."_

 _Artemis lowered the bloodied washcloth, "Wally,"_

 _He lifted a shaky hand and pressed it to her cheek, green eyes alive. "I'm right here babe and I'm fine. Listen, it's not like I left a drop of blood on a Post-It note and then disappeared without telling you I was okay."_

" _Post-It note? That's the best thing you can think of stupid?"_

 _He chuckled and clutched at his ribs, smiling. "But you love me anyway babe."_

" _Shut up Wally."_

 _His blood spotted her shirt as they crashed into each other, lips tangled in a moment of passion._

Artemis knew Barry's house like the back of her hand. Those post it notes weren't supposed to be there. That blood wasn't supposed to be there. It was left for her, just like how Dick left the window.

They were trying to reach out to someone, seemingly begging for someone to notice them—to possibly help them. Something was going on. Her friends weren't murderers, they were being forced to do these things.

They were innocent in all of this.

She knew they were.

"It's okay Wally, I hear you loud and clear. I'm going to find you guys and I'm going to save you."

* * *

see right through your alibis

* * *

The man pulled a gun out of one of his hostlers and flipped it around, fingers gracefully catching it and throwing it again. Ace was almost lost in the fluent motion, it was strangely beautiful; how the man made something of death and destruction look light and alive. The man seemed to notice how the kid got lost in his trick and smiled behind his mask.

"A brother of mine showed me some aerobic tricks from his days in the circus. He could move like crazy, like one of those crazy ass skinny people."

Ace seemed to snap back to reality at the man's garbled voice and looked at him interestedly. "My momma used to have a friend like that."

The man scoffed, "I doubt it. This kid, he could move like a bi—"

"—bird freed from it's cage."

The man stopped throwing the gun, mask titled in inquiry. "How in the hell did you know that kid?"

Ace shrugged, "The person my momma knew, his name was Uncle Dick and he went on an adventure with my dad before I was born. I wish I could meet him." The man in the mask put his pistol back in the holster, a hoarse laugh escaping him.

"Dickie bird," he muttered, "you smart little asshole."

Ace leisurely got back onto his own two feet, taking a cautious step towards the man. "What's your name?"

"Why do you want to know? So you can go run to your mommy and get me in trouble?"

Ace took another step forwards, "So we can be friends."

The man in the mask laughed, the movement shaking his entire body. "You want to be friends with the guy who wouldn't hesitate to shoot you?"

The little boy shook his head, "My momma shoots stuff too and I'm not scared." The masked man went quiet and let out a low growl, as if Ace had insulted his ego by saying he wasn't scared.

"You should be."

Ace smiled, "I'm not." Everything went silent between the two as the masked man debated his answer.

"Jason." Ace allowed a grin to spill across his face and it reminded Jason of a Christmas spent with Dick after Bruce had gotten him that PlayStation Three.

"My names Wallace after my dad but you can call me Ace. No one really likes to call me by my full name." Jason's fingers tugged at his red hood as he pulled it off from over his mask.

"Why not? It seems like a pretty cool name."

Ace takes another step forward, "Everyone misses my dad a lot and I was named after him. No one likes it, I can tell even when everyone tries to hide it like Uncle Arrow or Momma."

"Your dad's name is Wallace?" Ace bobbed his head shortly.

"Yeah, Wally for short according to Momma. She's always talking about how fast he was."

Jason laughed bitterly, like as if he had just discovered something crazy. "Jesus, I should've known. Dickie used to always hang out with that scrawny ass kid. Of course he's Kid Flash. That makes a lot of sense, I should've known. Damn."

"Can I call you Jay, Mister Jason?"

" _Fuck off Dickie, your so annoying."_

" _I'm annoying? I'm standing here beating up a dummy!"_

 _Seventeen year old Dick 'apparently' stood over to the side practicing some of his new moves on one of the fighting dummies in the bat cave. Sixteen year old Jason was sitting at the computer, surfing the internet for something to do. "You aren't over there, your right behind me flicking your stupid hand in my damn hair," he grumbled, flipping around in the chair to prove his point._

 _A topless Dick stood there, hand outstretched and guilty smirk on his face as he was caught in the act. He held his hands up in surrender, "Alright, alright you win. Nice catch."_

 _Jason crossed his arms, "I was trained by the Batman stupid."_

" _So am I but I've been here longer than you Jay and I know for a fact the Batman despises cursing from his protégés." Jason's eyes widened and his face quickly lost all color as Dick cackled, walking back over to the punching dummy on the other side of the room._

 _Jason jumped out of his seat and followed him over, "Dickie, you can't tell him. Please he's still mad at me for going after Quinn on my own yesterday. If you tell him I cussed I won't be alive anymore. You don't want me to die do you?" Dick rolled his eyes, taking a swing at the dummy with his right fist._

" _Stop being such a drama queen Jay, I'm not gonna tell him. I actually like having you as a little brother to pick on and I don't want you to die anytime soon. I just wanted to get you out of that damn chair so you could spar with me."_

 _Without any warning, Dick turned and aimed a punch towards Jason's shoulder; the younger dodging at the last second. He looked at Dick with angry eyes as he got into a fighting stance, "That was a dirty move Dickie," He shrugged, jutting his leg out but Jason leaping over it stiffly._

" _You don't even know what that means. Stop being so stiff, you won't be able to jump away in time if your body is all coiled up like a spring Jay." Jason took his advice and as Dick flipped to the right and then tried to sweep his legs out from under him, Jay avoided the move with quick and easy ease._

" _I'm sixteen Dick, what in the hell do you think other kids my age talk about?"_

" _Dude, you are such a little troll." Jason dodged another punch and then tumbled to the left, getting the edge over Dick as he slid through the gap in his legs and made it behind him; two hands around his head and over his throat in a choke hold._

" _Your one to talk, what do you and Wally talk about now?"_

 _Dick stopped struggling with getting out of Jason's hold as he allowed his body to relax. "Good point Jay, but we are old enough to talk about girls and the things surrounding them." Jason scoffed and lost his focus, not noticing Dick's hand moving in for the flip around._

" _Wally's probably not old enough to do half the shit he undoubtedly does to his girlfriend but he does it anyway." Within a second Dick had flipped Jason over his head and straddled his waist in keeping him pinned to the floor, the latter looking as dazed as ever to how he had gotten there. "What in the hell?"_

" _Don't ever lost focus during a battle Jay, it could be your downfall."_

 _Jason grumbled something rude and shoved Dick off him, flipping him the finger as he stormed back over to the bat computer. Dick did a backflip to get to back onto his own two feet and trotted over to where Jason was surfing the computer again, grabbing the arm of the chair and spinning him around to face him. "Fuck off dude,"_

" _Jay listen—"_

" _Dickie you do this to me every damn time. You do something stupid to get me to spar with you and then you wipe the floor with me. I think you do it for your stupid circus ego."_

 _Dick knew Jason didn't mean it, that he was just pissed off and worked up, but it still stung. "You don't mean that Jay now listen to me." Dick took him by the shoulders and pulled his small form out of the chair, making him stand in front of him._

" _Dickie—"_

" _Take of your shirt Jay."_

" _What in the fuc—"_

 _One stern look from Dick caused Jason to cut himself off as he did as he was told, taking off his shirt and allowing his older 'brother' to see his pale torso. Dick took a step back and pointed to the scars littering his stomach and upper chest and then turned around and allowed the boy to see all of the cuts and bruises that resided there. He turned back around and pointed to a tiny red spot near Jason's bellybutton. "What's that from?"_

 _Jason rolled his eyes, "From you flipping me just now."_

 _Next Dick pointed to the large muti-colored bruise that covered Jason's entire left side. "And that?"_

" _From chasing after Quinn. Dickie, what's the point of all of this 'cause right now it seems like this is just you making me look like an idiot again."_

 _Dick grabbed Jason by the shoulders and shook him a little. "All the shit on my body Jay, all these scars and nasty looking cuts, they are from no one telling me what I did wrong. Bruce thinks I'm fine because I don't let him know I'm hurt and so he doesn't teach me what I could do better next time. This cycle results in me getting hurt from really, really stupid things." Jason stayed silent, looking into Dick's eyes. "You're lucky. You have me and I'm here to make sure you don't get hurt. I help you improve and I tell you what you did wrong so that you don't make the same mistake twice and end up dead the second time."_

" _Dickie,"_

" _I'm not doing this to embarrass you Jay, I'm doing this to save you the pain I've gone through and the marred skin you still get to keep afterwards. I'm doing this to teach you right and wrong. I'm doing this so that after every mission you come home in one piece. I'm doing this, Jay, so you don't end up like everyone else I've ever cared about—so you don't end up like my parents."_

 _Jason reached up and placed one hand on Dick's shoulder, "Dickie, I'm not going to end up like your parents."_

 _Dick smiled, "I know Jay and I'm telling you this because you need to know. I'm doing this for you so you don't end up dead."_

"Jay?" Jason came back from the memory with a harsh exhale and dilated eyes, though Ace was only subject to one of them. "Are you okay?" Jason quickly nodded his head, looking around the room weary. Joker wasn't there, he was fine. Everything was fine.

"Yeah kid, I'm good. It's just that no one had called me that in a long time."

Ace looked dismayed, "Do you not want me to call you that?"

"No, no. It's fine. You're kinda cute when you call me that kid, I'll admit." Ace giggled and without any warning and closed the space between them and hugged Jason, the older man automatically reaching towards one of his guns from the sudden close contact. The last time he was hugged was _years_ ago. After remembering that it was just Ace there, just a little kid hugging him, his body grew less tense and his digits moved away from the hem of his pistols. "What in the hell are you doing kid?" He whispered and a voice in the back of his head answered him back in the cackling voice of his big brother.

 _Hugging you, you little troll. Now stop cursing me out and hug back._

"Jay can I ask a favor?" Jason snapped himself back to the present unevenly, his mind was going haywire. Why was this kid bringing back memories of his past life?

"Go ahead kid,"

"Could you maybe try to find my dad and uncle? I know their full names if it would help. I just want to . . . well my momma said my dad would come back one day and crush me in a hug but he isn't back yet. And I really want to meet my uncle."

Jason stayed silent for a minute. The whole reason for Jason taking the kid was because he was going to grill him for answers on where Dick had gone. He hadn't been in Blüdhaven as usual for a while and Jason wanted answers but now he realized with a heavy heart that someone had taken Wally and Dick and that they were alive and that maybe, just maybe—they were the cause of the crimes in the news. And all Jason knew now was the fact that this little kid wanted him to bring his father and 'uncle' home. Jason knew he had to try, for his older brother's sake and for the kid's.

He pulled back from the hug and was tempted to take off his mask just so Ace could see his smile.

"Yeah kid, I'll look into it. I'll find your dad and uncle alright?"

"Thank you Jay," Jason moved out of the way so that they could leave the room and he heard the perturbed sounds of Oliver shouting for Ace. Jason turned towards Ace.

"Hey kid, one last thing."

"Yeah?" Jason pulled the hood back over his head as the people searching for Ace grew closer.

"People don't like calling me by my name either. It's Red Hood to anyone you talk to alright?" He smiled at the older man, running towards him and wrapping his arms around his waist in one final hug, Jason making an oomph sound as the boy's small body pressed against his many scars over his hips and lower chest. The J on his cheek burned weakly in the meantime, like as if it was still alive.

"Thank you Jay, for saying you'll look for my dad and uncle."

He couldn't deny the smile that fit onto his lips from behind the mask as he patted Ace on the back. "Yeah, I'll find them kid. Promise." He answered gruffly as Ace pulled back. "Listen, if you ever need help or you find your dad and uncle before I do, find something red and leave it on the bed in Dick's room—the room I was just talking to you in. Got it?"

"But how will you know?" There was a smirk on Jason's lips by then and he felt that it was a shame that the kid couldn't see it.

"I'll know. Trust me. Be safe kid."

Ace nodded eagerly and Jason turned and grappled away in a matter of seconds; just as Oliver, Bart and Jamie came up behind Ace. "There you are!" Jamie shouted, placing a hand on Ace's elbow and turning him around to face them.

"What were you doing Ace?" Oliver asked, eyes looking around for anything out of the ordinary but finding nothing.

Ace smiled; hearing a deep distorted chuckle come from the shadows around him.

"I was making sure my dad and uncle were going to come back soon."

* * *

this is a call to arms

* * *

"Why in the hell does this woman have so many knifes and midget arrows on her? What is she, Robin Hood?"

"I heard she's the daughter of that guy we locked up four years ago."

"Sportsmaster? No, he didn't have any kids, did he?"

Artemis rolled her eyes as she placed the last of her hidden weapons in the box so she could visits and walked through the x-ray machine, the scan coming back clear as she was escorted to a dank smelling visiting room. The guard that had walked her there turned to her before walking out the door, "The guard will bring Mister Crock in a moment, so sit tight."

"Thanks,"

The man left with the door slamming shut behind him and she flinched against her will, fumbling with her fingers as she waited for her father, the man of her nightmares, to be brought through the other doors. Her unwanted prayers were answered as two guards shoved Sportsmaster into the room and forced him to take a seat in the metal chair across the table from Artemis. One of guards handcuffed a hand to the underneath of the table before the two guards left the room.

Sportsmaster sat there with a smirk on his face and he would've crossed his arms if he could have.

"What brings you around baby girl? Trouble with your boyfriend?" Artemis scowled, she didn't want to have to talk to him. But she knew talking to him would be the only way to find out where they were being held if all of the facts she had found so far were true.

"According to everyone, he's been dead for four years. Along with Nightwing." She could see the shocked expression cross her dad's face and then disappear.

"About time, who killed them? I'll need to give them my congrats." He humored dryly, smirking.

Artemis sent him a glare, "Remember kidnapping Nightwing a few years back? That crazy scientist guy that tried to cut him to pieces? He took them both again and apparently kidnapped them and killed them. But I think they are still alive. I need to know where he would operate out of."

Sportsmaster shook his head, "Can't help you baby girl. That guy was a strange one so I didn't ask about anything. Always went on and on about a cure. But I am happy with him for being able to kidnap two heroes so easily and he still gave me my payment for when I break out of here."

"You'll never get out of here Dad," He said nothing and he leaned forwards and his lips were close to her ear.

"I could've killed you seven different ways by now baby girl, don't you know? And those guards that brought me in? Twenty different ways." He leaned back in his chair and Artemis groaned, eyes hard when she looked back at him.

"I know you know something. Tell me where the nutcase is." He stared at his daughter for a few moments before talking again.

"Alright baby girl I'll tell you where he is. But you have to do something for me in return. An upheld promise." He bit, Artemis glaring.

"Fine. What?"

"When you find that man kill him for me, knife through his heart. I can't have such a _great_ guy like that threatening my authority on the streets for when I get out." Artemis growled but nodded her head rigidly, causing Sportsmaster to grin. "Lab in the outskirts of Blüdhaven. Used to be an old factory warehouse for skin products. Very easy to find, get to the top of the hill to the south and you'll be able to scope out the entire compound. Now go kill him for me baby girl, make me proud." She stood up and nodded to the guard outside the door who unlocked it but before she left she looked back to Sportsmaster.

"I'm not doing this for you Dad, I'm doing this to save the man I love and my best friend."

Sportsmaster leered with a taunting laugh leaving him, "Love gets you nowhere Baby Arrow."

She kept the wince from the use of her old nickname hidden and turned to leave, barely looking back at her father. "Love keeps me going."

* * *

make no mistake, give it to me straight . . .

* * *

Her eyes scan the deserted building in front of her and the lights in the front flicker every once in a while but besides that nothing else looks out of the ordinary. Though she can hear the hum of electricity in the air when meant—

"The place is on. They have to be in there."

She grabs her arrow next to her (and yes, she knows how risky it is for her to be out in her civvies carrying around a bow in her hands and pack full of arrows on her back but she just wanted to find her guys after it being so long) but then a slight crackling noise from behind startled her. She tried to whip around but was too slow as a hand clamped over her mouth and she was pulled flush against the body behind her. But before she could fight back and bite at the man's hand, the person let go of her like she was fire.

"Artemis?"

She turned around and was sure she got whiplash but it was worth it as it was Dick Grayson standing there, decked out in his classic Nightwing black and domino mask. She didn't answer and he seemed to be in disbelief that she was there, standing in front of him.

"Dick," she murmured, launching herself forwards so she could hug him.

He caught her easily, Artemis took notice of how bulky his chest was now, and buried her head into his chest as his arms securely wrapped tight around her. She let a soft sob leave her as she clutched at the back of his suit, her fingers slipping at the thick material but his arms around her was enough to make up for it.

His chin rubbed the top of her hair and he held tight and then she felt a shiver run up his spine and was about to question it until a voice, that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, interrupted her.

Dick's hold grew move protective and she felt his hands grab at her back as he instantly moved her away from where the voice had come from, in a quick yet sturdy protective motion.

"Why hello honey, have you come to join the fun?"


	7. seven

_**This**_ **chapter contains:**

Spoilers: Season 1 and 2

Random Lyrics from: Take Me by Papa Roach

Pairings: Spitfire, Chalant, Wally and Ace bonding, Bart and Jamie friendship (can be viewed as Bluepulse if anybody wants it to be) along with Artemis, Dick and Wally friendship.

Important Extra Notes: So here we go, this is the chapter that leads up to the big explosion that is going to be chapter eight. We learn something about Aeron, more about Operation Blackout, Wally learns about Ace and so, so much more. Thank you guys for all of the support and to answer the guest reviewer that asked about how Jason didn't know Dick was 'dead'—Jason was keeping tabs on the bat family to make sure nothing major happened, he wasn't watching intensely enough to learn of his death. He had just noticed he wasn't patrolling Blüdhaven as Nightwing in a few months and went to ask Ace about it; figuring he could get answers by threating a kid. But that obviously turned out different . . . anyway I hope that answers your question! :) Also guys _please_ do take into account the very high _warnings_ for sexual scenes and disturbing matter in this chapter.

 _This_ chapter is **rated teen for** some language, places of violence, romance scenes, tiny mention of someone 'killing themselves', high sexual scenarios in the start of the chapter (it takes place in Wally's mind so of course he would think like so but anyway, I warned you) and some very disturbing matter (start and end listed below).

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 **(!) WARNING FOR DISTURBING MATTER (!)**

 **There is a part in this chapter where Aeron has an episode and it is far worse than his others—some very disturbing things are listed. It is mostly mention of blood, gore and dismembered limbs. If this makes you squeamish feel free to skip it (I wrote it and I got grossed out) as the start and end are as follows:**

 **Start—** 'Aeron swatted at the empty air behind him, avoiding the eyes of the giggling girl that stared at him from the corner of the room.'

 **End—** 'The entire way to Dick's apartment was silent, excluding the animals growing from far away at something that had awoken them and Wally's snappy attitude towards his girlfriend.'

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Translation Notes:

 _Spanish:_

Amigo — friend

* * *

take me and let me in

* * *

It started out as a dream.

A dream that took the beauty that was Artemis and turned her into something more. Her curves were enlightened, hip bones gallant against her darker skin, lips plump and a loose shade of red, stormy eyes wide with love—lust really, considering it _was_ Wally's dream—cheeks perfectly smooth, slim body arching towards him, and mouth open shortly as his calloused hands caused a moan to escape her throat.

It went through the actions of a Valentine's Day that could've been if Wally hadn't forgotten the holiday five years in a row; the dream version of himself more alert and caring—the two things Wally could only strive for in real life. First, it started out with a calm chirping of birds in the morning; his fingers drawing different shapes on the uncovered skin near her hips. He woke her up with a gentle kiss afterwards and a husky, drowsy mutter of 'Happy Valentine's Day' before they headed to the shower together.

Afterwards, breakfast and then an uneventful day of kissing and cuddling by the light of the many violent R rated movies (by Artemis' choice) and light, corny comedy PG-13 rated movies (by request of Wally) filtering through the living room television.

The day faded into night as Wally dug through his closet to find the suit Uncle Barry used for his wedding day, putting it on and finding that it was one size too big but still made him look as classy as needed. Artemis put on a short fitted purple dress that cut off at her knees, the top dipping down in a V-neck fashion. The night went on with Wally taking his girlfriend to dinner and then bringing her to a hotel room that was filled with white rose petals (her secret favorite) and expensive bottles of red wine sitting patiently on the nightstand next to the bed; two polished, empty glasses just waiting to be used.

That's what led up to this moment in time; Wally topless and boxers half on (he was pretty sure Barry's suit was lost someone half on the edge of the king sized bed and half off) with Artemis' stunning dress crumpled on the floor a few feet away. His hands were slowly grazing her thigh, trailing lower and lower—her lips pressing kisses to his upper chest and neck in a matter like as if she _needed_ him.

"Babe," he grunted, groaning when her hand brushed the hem of his boxers, teasing him.

The next thing he knew, her lips were by his ear. "Wally," she murmured, voice lost in the mist of Wally struggling to pull her as close as he could so he had something to hold against him.

"Artemis, I fucking love you."

A raspy chuckle echoed back, her hands somehow moving so her fingernails were digging into his back. The red scars left behind would just be a blissful reminder for later. "Wally wake up." He found her lips and buckled under the intoxicating thing that was her.

Anything revolving around her was gorgeous in Wally's mind.

"Dude wake up!"

A sharp hiss caused Wally's eyes to snap open as he scrambled to sit up on his own, seeing blankets twirled around his waist. He frantically looked to his left and then to his right for Artemis, because the dream felt _so_ damn _real_ , only to find Dick standing there; face bloody from a nasty looking cut near his eyebrow and bruises lining his chin.

Wally struggled with grabbing a pillow and covering the throbbing lower half of him, willing it to go away as he rubbed at his eyes and turned on the light sitting on the nightstand next to him.

"Dick? What in the hell happened to you?" There were a million other thoughts swimming around Wally's mind in that moment (like why in the hell his dream couldn't actually be real) but he settled on asking the one that seemed most important for that moment.

Dick was in his Nightwing suit and his domino mask lay cracked next to the lamp, eyes frantic. There was also a smirk painted on his lips behind the blood, one that Wally could barely see in the yellowish glow of the lightbulb.

"I think the better question is about what your dream was. Are you really that sex deprived that you dreamt about getting laid?" Wally scowled, running a hurried hand through his hair.

"Glad to know your humor is still intact and for your information—you woke me up before I could get laid. One hell of a best friend you are."

Dick scoffed, attempting to wipe off some of the wet blood off his face with one of his gloved hands, "Don't be coming on to me now since you are still—"

"Can you make fun of me later and for now tell me what in the _hell_ happened to your face?"

Dick instantly got focused again and the seriousness took over his entire face, eyes attentive. "Aeron and I got into a disagreement. Probably wasn't wise of me to go up against a strengthened speedster superhuman on my own."

"Why?"

He was only going to attempt getting out of his warm, comfy bed to try and throw on a shirt if something serious was going on. If this was another one of Dick's stupid late night pranks, Wally was sure to kill him instead. He sighed, grabbing his domino mask and inspecting the crooked crack that hung there to avoid having to look at Wally.

"Artemis found us Wally. She found us." It escaped his mouth in a whisper, mouth cracked in a half alive smile and Wally looked at his friend in chronic disbelief.

"Artemis," the toothy grin that followed was enough to cause Dick's heart to leap happily but the look was gone once Wally put the shattered pieces together, "where is she?" Dick placed the mask over his eyes, securing it only to find Wally pushing him out of the way to grab a shirt from his closet.

"Wally I need you to stay calm, we'll get her back I promise."

The rooms in the abandoned building used to be offices and Aeron did a half-ass job in converting them; leaving grey walls, stingy bed that was only a mattress on the floor, small closet that was smaller than the room itself as it held a few ripped shirts and other different outfits for whatever mission Aeron would send them on, a single barred window and door that only opened with the correct fingerprint of the person whose room it was. Dick figured it was like that because all of the years the two had tried to escape, the fact that Aeron knew they planned it from sneaking into each other's rooms.

They would get punished for it horribly but he never found out how they could get into each other's rooms (Dick had a fake fingerprint from Wally hidden on the pinky finger of his glove while Wally had Dick's fingerprint on a fake skin piece in his nightstand drawer).

The small matter of the room seemed to be lost on Wally as he flipped around and trapped Dick against the wall, eyes ablaze with a hateful anger. "Aeron _has_ her?" his voice was a growl, lips tugged in what looked like a snarl as his one hand squeezed into a white-painted fist at his side.

Dick took his friend by the shoulders and shoved him back, "While I was on patrol I went over and checked that hill Aeron is always going on about 'being a vantage point for us to get discovered' and I saw someone there. I-I went up behind them and grabbed her and I was about to snap her neck so Aeron didn't kill me for allowing someone to find us but then I realized it was her. I let go and she turned around and it was _Artemis_ Wally, it was her. She searched for us and she found us! So then we hugged but before I could even get t-t—to talk to her Aeron was there and trying to get her. I fought, damn it man I fought like hell to make sure he couldn't get her but he was able to knock me out."

The fire in Wally's eyes didn't change, instead they seemed to flare in more ire. "So she's dead."

Dick shook his head, pissed with how his friend was acting. He knew this was killing him on the inside, to have missed getting to see his true love after four years, but it only should've given him more incentive to help him try to find her before Aeron truly did put a bullet in her skull.

"She isn't dead Wally! Stop being so pissed off with me because the matter of this is that we need to find her before Aeron decides he doesn't need her and _actually_ kills her!" Wally's bare chest heaved in and out as the man took uneven breaths but without any other words he turned and tugged a shirt off one of the colored hangers and tossed it over his body. He grabbed a black duffel bag from the bottom of his closet and Dick sent him a worried look. "Dude, what are you doing?"

Wally didn't turn as he zoomed around the room, loading the rest of his bag with the things he treasured before leaving the room and returning with a dark blue duffel bag that now sat next to his; packed with all of the things Dick held close to him from his room. The speedster grabbed ahold of both bags and turned towards Dick, "We are getting Artemis and getting the hell out of here."

Dick couldn't help but grin, moving forward and placing a hand on Wally's shoulder. "That's the best idea you've had in years man,"

Wally nodded, "I'm going to go and drop these at your apartment while you find out where Artemis—"

"Aeron probably has her in B4, the room we both know and love. If he wants to keep her around for leverage, that's where he would start. You drop off our stuff and then come back her and stay hidden. I'll signal you after I scope out the place so we can save her alright?"

"See you on the other side man," Wally answered before taking off, bags in tow as he ran to Dick's apartment. The latter laughed shortly, cracking his knuckles before running out the door and heading to the room where he hoped Artemis was being held.

* * *

don't break me and shut me out

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It was easy getting into Dick's old apartment and leaving the bags on top of the couch, Brucely turning his head and running towards his master with a happy bark and slobbering tongue. He tackled Wally to the floor, paws rolling onto Wally's shoulders as he licked every inch of his face; the man laughing loudly at the sudden happiness the dog was showing.

"H-Hey boy, chill out! I'm sorry I left you for so long boy but I'm coming back."

He ran his fingers through the dog's grey hairs, revising in the fact that he could pet the dog and hug him. It had been so long and frankly, Wally was too wrapped up in saying a long overdue hello to Brucely to try and piece together why exactly Dick's apartment was so spotless and alive with energy. He rubs Brucely's favorite spot behind his ears but freezes when a voice comes from where the start of the hallway would be.

"Who are you?" The voice was young, like a little boy's and Wally shoved the dog off him so he could scurry to his feet only to see in fact a young boy standing across from him. He scratched the back of his neck, chuckling nervously.

He wasn't good with kids, what in the hell was he going to say?

What if a new family lived here? No, he thought, Artemis would never do that. Right?

"What are you doing here?" Okay that probably wasn't the best thing to leave Wally's mouth but it was the only thing that came to him so that's what he went with.

The kid looked baffled by Wally's statement, "My momma and I live here."

Shit, Wally's mind deadpanned, if this kid's mom found him—let's just say he didn't want to die again. "Where's your mom at now, kid?" he asked slowly, hoping she wasn't there but that seemed unlikely because the kid looked to be only three.

The boy moved a step closer to where Wally was standing, "She's out running an errand. My Uncle Arrow is keeping a watch from the roof, he says that if he sees any bad guys he'll put an arrow right through them so they can't get to me."

Good old Oliver with his uncensored threats—wait the kid knew Oliver? The kid knew Green Arrow? The kid had called him an uncle, but Oliver didn't have anyone that could—"What's your mom's name kid?"

Wally didn't have time to process the fact that he had gotten faster over the years, fast and silent enough to have been able to sneak right past Oliver's watchful eye. He made a metal note that later on, after all of this shit was sorted out, he would _have_ to brag about it and see how much he could piss the older man off.

The kid took another step closer and that's when Wally saw the red and yellow Flash pajamas he was sleeping in.

What in the hell?

"Artemis Crock but I don't know who my daddy is . . . my name is Ace." Just like that, in the frail voice of this kid, Wally's world broke.

Artemis had hooked up with someone and left him out to dry? The anger was bold in his features, face red and veins intrepid. All common sense flew out the window; after all they had been through, she went and messed around with some guy once his casket was lowered into a bare grave?

Wally realized that he still hadn't answered the boy and he was spilt half and half.

"Uh my name's Wally. I gotta go can you not tell Arrow that I was here?" Ace nodded, confused but somewhere inside of him a part of him trusted this strange man. He went to turn and run out the door when Ace was suddenly at his side, grabbing his hand. Wally turned back and looked at Ace, lips in a firm line. "What's the matter kid?" he questioned gruffly—itching to get out of there and do a few laps around Blüdhaven before heading back to the warehouse to save Artemis.

"Are you gonna bring my daddy back Mister Wally?"

Wally sends the kid what he hopes is a reassuring grin to cover up the other emotions that plagued him. "Yeah, yeah sure kid. I'll bring him back just stick tight okay?" He answers before shaking off Ace's hand and running out the door, a burst of air hitting Ace in the face as the man seemingly disappeared from his very eyes.

"Wow that was so cool." Ace muttered, lips in an enthusiastic beam. "I hope my daddy is that cool!"

* * *

i lit my pain on fire

* * *

The world is muffled in her ears as she blinks a few times to try and connect her senses, gasping when she remembers what had happened. Her eyes snap open and she tries to move, only to find that she was stuck. Her heart starts to hammer, breathing shallow as she looks around and sees that she is surrounded by four white walls with the wall in front of her holding one way glass in place with how she was sitting.

A single light hangs above her, the rest of the room dark. Artemis looked down and saw that she was seated in a metal chair that was bolted to the floor, her hands restrained by black leather restrains around her wrists along with the same thing over her ankles. A final strap rested over her upper stomach, just above her bellybutton.

Her eyes sting for some odd reason and she remembers the fight between the creepy man and Dick . . . and with a heavy heart she remembers the sound of bone crunching from one of them. The bloodied face of Dick is burned into her memory too and she just hopes nothing bad had happened to him.

"About time you woke up Miss Crock."

It sounds like the voice is coming from a speaker located somewhere in the dark room and a low growl emits from her throat. "Who the hell are you and what did you do to Dick?" The man laughs and his voice is affected by the hissing in the speaker, making him sound like a mutated version of a hyena.

"Richard? I don't know where he went off to but I know that I have you and that is enough to complete Operation Blackout."

Artemis struggled against the restrains, tugging and pulling in a meager attempt at escape. "What in the hell are you talking about?"

Before she knew it, Aeron was in front of her and she held her breath at the sight of his face. The smile looked painted on, lips stretched and yellowed teeth showing. He was like a deranged Cheshire cat, dare she say it.

"My name is Aeron Hyades sweet dear and soon the world will answer to me because of the weapons I own." Artemis didn't answer, instead staring daggers. "Wallace and Richard are by far my most successful experiments. I mean, this, this started out as an simple ideal back when I was a teenager—to find a way to make people feel how I feel every damn day of my life. And, and now it is a reality." He muttered, pacing in front of Artemis and she felt pleasure in seeing the limp as he walked, glad that it wasn't Dick who had broken a bone (she would have to applaud the guy later).

"What are you—"

Rapidly he was directly in her face, hand grabbing at her chin. "Four years I took these two men and turned them into soldiers! Mentally I broke them down and built them back up with no hope left. Physically I turned them into brutes, men of no weakness. When all of you gave up I took them in like my own sons to avenge my mother."

Artemis scoffed, "You must be one hell of a momma's boy then."

He let go of her chin with a snarl, "My mother died in a fire when I was little. The police covered it up, saying it was a 'gas leak' but I knew it was the work of a gang boss because my _father_ didn't pay up for that month. I may have been little but I wasn't stupid," he spat, shaking his head, "so when I was sixteen I found that man, Marcus that son of a bitch, I found him and tortured him—I allowed him to feel the pain my mother felt as the flames licked her skin, as they ate her alive. The police couldn't even identify his body when I was done with him."

 _Just jump my dear. Find a ledge and fall so we can be reunited. I'm so lonely Ron._

Aeron swatted at the empty air behind him, avoiding the eyes of the giggling girl that stared at him from the corner of the room. He didn't want to see those red eyes he knew all too well. Instead, he fought to continue talking as if nothing had happened at all.

"From then on I started my search for men that I could break down and build back up but other the years no one was strong enough to handle it. Until I laid my eyes on Richard and Wallace. They were _perfect_ ; one could travel at the speed of light while the other was trained by The Dark Knight—who else would be able to rival those two? I had to have them."

The little girl across the room giggled madly, face disorientating and stretching as blood coated hands reached out to him.

"Ronnie!" she called, attempting to hobble towards him as his mother snickered from inside his head. Aeron's eyes trained uneasily on the bloody stump that was supposed to be her left leg.

 _You could've saved her Ron. If only you hadn't killed her._

"S-Shup up M-Mother," he stuttered, voice low as Artemis glanced at the man uncertainly. It was already bad enough she was trapped in a room with a creepy man—she didn't need any add-ons . . . like the guy turning out to be crazy.

As much as she wanted to point that fact out she bit her tongue and kept quiet, not wanting to die by a psycho with a crimson knife.

Aeron staggered backwards as the little girl drew closer to him, a line of blood following her from the severed leg still sitting in the corner. "G-Get a-away from m-me A-Angel." Artemis watched as Aeron backed himself into a corner, fear bold in his eyes and hands outstretched wearily.

She gasped inaudibly when she felt a touch of cold on her arm and turned to see Dick crouched there, his gloved hands carefully undoing the restrains. He sent her a stern look that signaled her to not say anything and then her eyes focused on the shadowed figure standing watch behind him. Wally. Her eyes pricked with unshed tears and she would've laughed happily if she could've.

He was so handsome to her after being gone for so long. She had missed him.

 _She should've lived, you should've been the one to be kicked in the head and killed! A disgrace, a disgusting thing you are—you aren't even human anymore are you?_

Aeron covered his ears at his mother's sneering voice as the little girl flickered, her hand reaching for his foot. "Ronnie! Ronnie, come play with me!" The girl yelled in a singsong voice and it was abruptly thundering in his ears, rocking his very being.

"N-No," he muttered, pushing himself backwards.

Artemis watched Aeron's terrified movements and she couldn't hold in the question any longer.

"What's happening to him?" she whispered as Dick was working on pulling out the last restrain for her chest and without meeting her eyes he answered softly.

"One of his episodes. There's something mentally wrong with him, that much Wally and I put together, but we still aren't sure of what exactly it is."

With a final tug Artemis was free and vaulting herself towards Wally who caught her with a gentle pair of arms. She buried her head as far into his chest as it would go, "Wally," He chuckled and the rage simmering inside of him actually dampened a little, part of it fizzing out completely.

"Hey beautiful. I've missed you."

Dick put a hand on Artemis' shoulder, breaking apart their emotional moment. "Guys. We gotta go, now." With two nods answering him, the three left the room—leaving Aeron to his own personal demons.

 _I hope she kills you dear, because if she kills you I can let the demons biting at my ankles attack you instead!_

Aeron cringed as a shaking finger touched his foot, blood dripping onto his knee. He wanted to close his eyes and not look but something was preventing him from doing so, his eyes gawking at the little girl in front of him.

She looked horrifying up close; her teeth crooked and chipped in some places, forehead homing a large gash, cheeks hallowed out like a skeleton, lips cracked, ears chopped off, nose half slaughtered and eyes that bore into his very soul.

He was trembling so bad that he couldn't speak, it was too hard to form any types of words that weren't meaningless stutters and then the girl grinned and he felt his world spin because he was hit with the memory that he _did_ this to her.

She could've been such a striking girl, she could've been the one to find the cure to cancer but instead she was dead and haunting him—reminding him.

"Play with me Ronnie! Come on, I saved the dinosaur toy for you!"

Then she lifted her burnt fingertips to show a dismembered hand that wasn't her own in her hands and he screamed so loud the few lone animals in the woods turned their heads to stare at the warehouse.

 _Go on Ron. Play with your sister. She saved your dinosaur toy dear._

"No!" but Aeron's shout of protest was drowned out by the little girl's laughter and before long blood was oozing from the walls and bug-ridden bodies were covering the floors around him.

* * *

and i watched it all burn down

* * *

The entire way to Dick's apartment was silent, excluding the animals growing from far away at something that had awoken them and Wally's snappy attitude towards his girlfriend. Three blocks away from the apartment Artemis turned to Dick ad told him to go on ahead and that they would catch up before facing Wally.

Artemis finally decided to confront Wally on his harsh attitude, stopping him with a vice grip on his shoulder and cold eyes. "What is your issue?"

Wally avoids looking at her, pulling his arm from her hold. "Nothing."

"Wally, you might've been gone for four years but hell if I don't know when you're lying." He stayed quiet for a moment and then turned away from her slowly so he didn't have to look at her when he spoke.

"You have a kid Artemis. You had someone else's kid," and her heart feels like it's shattering, mind clouding with unattached thoughts of 'oh no' and 'he doesn't understand'; "you had someone else's kid after we promised to be together forever."

Wally knows he's not acting right but his emotions had been ran raw in the past few hours; between the sensual dream, Dick telling him Aeron had her, finding the kid in the apartment ( _her_ apartment now), saving her and now confronting her. His feelings felt like they had been through a meat grinder—like as if they had been shredded to tiny pieces and then thrown into the grind again. Wally doesn't turn to face her because he knows if he sees her face of whatever feeling is present there that he'll lose it again and he really doesn't want to add 'breaking down and crying' to the list.

"Wally," she treated her words like they were sour, distasteful in her mouth, "there's so much you've missed."

He grits a fist at his side and can feel her gaze burning into his back.

"Like you fucking another man? Forgetting about me?"

Artemis scoffs, "You have the story completely wrong Wally. Everyone thought you were dead. We all searched _everywhere_ for you two and found _nothing_." He clenches his jaw and can feel his blood pressure rise at the anger of thinking about another man's hands on Artemis' body, the two in bed tangled within each other—

"You didn't search enough then!" Wally flips around and his nose is nearly pressing in hers. He didn't realize how close they were. "Dick and I, we've been forced to do unthinkable things these past years and you guys gave up on us. We were crying for help underwater and no one heard!" Artemis stays quiet and her arms are crossed and he hates the look in her eyes. He hates how he forgot the different looks his own spitfire could have.

"Wally."

"But I guess you were too busy fucking someone else in bed to hear huh babe?"

He was like a loose cannon, words flying, rage peeking and steam flowing from his ears. Artemis didn't seem fazed by his words, for what Wally had no idea why, instead reaching out and putting a soft hand in place over his clenched fist. "His name is Wallace Barry Crock and he isn't someone else's kid."

Wally's eyes lost all ire aimed towards her and he seemed to visually shrink in his spot, her gentle touch the only thing keeping him grounded.

"W-What? Wal—W-Wallace? Artemis, what in the h—hell?"

The words that had come out so easily before were now getting caught in his throat, drowning in his stomach before they could leave him in flowing sentences. There was a knot in his gut and his heart was probably hammering so fast it could've rivaled Uncle Barry's speed on a good day. The corner of her lips twitched up in a faded smile, her thumb stroking the back skin of his hand.

"He's not someone else's kid babe," she whispered and Wally, God—he could feel the world closing in around him, shards of his life falling to the ground and splitting into a trillion pieces of broken glass; "his nickname is Ace and he's our little boy."

Her grip on his hand tightened as he tried to stagger backwards and she held onto him so that he wouldn't fall over his own two feet. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, Artemis reaching out and grabbing his other hand to steady him.

"H-H—How?" he muttered, eyes locking with hers and searching for a flicker of something and Artemis exhaled and prayed that he didn't put his head together and say he wanted nothing to do with Ace. She believed that would be the only thing she wouldn't be able to forgive—if he turned his back on her and left her as a single mother. But Wally . . . Wally wouldn't do that right? He cared about her too much to leave her for another however many years?

"The night you snuck into the apartment to grab that damn helmet, we didn't use protection remember?" She saw his eyes flash in remembrance, a dash of realization.

"I-I thought you were on the pill." Artemis couldn't help but chuckle, shaking her head.

"Wally I pissed at you and we were on an unsaid break. Why in the hell would I be on the pill if you didn't want anything to do with me?"

Wally stared at Artemis with a serious expression on his face but then a laugh left him and Artemis smiled because she hadn't heard him laugh in so long—she had forgotten how beautiful it was. How intoxicating it was to her senses. "Jesus babe," he murmured, holding onto her hands and pulling her body closer to his; "when was he born?"

"April 14th. He's three and he's just like you."

Wally smiled, "I could tell. I uh ran into him when I was dropping off our bags at the apartment. He talked about an 'Uncle Arrow' and that's what . . . I'm sorry Art. I didn't mean any of what I said."

He pulled her closer, their bodies pressed against one another's and Wally's lower region was faintly aware of how close to his dream this was—only with a few extra roadblocks. Artemis moved her hands so they were resting on his chest as Wally's snaked around her waist in return. "You didn't know."

He sighed, "Yeah I didn't know and I made crazy assumptions. I'm sorry."

Her lips brushed against his for a millisecond, enough to make him want more. "It's fine Wally, it's okay."

It went silent for a moment, the two lost in contemplating each other in the dim light of the room. Then without warning a large grin split across his face and he picked his girlfriend up, twirling her around a few times before dropping her back on the ground with her hands still holding tight onto his shirt for dear life. "What the hell Wally?" She questioned, slapping him playfully on the shoulder a causing him to chuckle. There was an excited gleam in his eyes that set her off-guard. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

He laughed again, "Artemis, we have a kid. We got a little baby boy!"

The excitement was coming off him in waves was outstanding and Artemis wondered how many years it would take him to turn into a drowsy parent like she was now. "Well as soon as we fix this shit with your head, you can take full babysitting duty so I can get the four years of rest I deserve." He leaned in and gave her a short kiss, grinning all the while.

"Of course babe, anything you want for four whole years I swear. I love you Artemis."

She looked into his eyes and saw the loving look of his that she had missed so damn much for all those years, her heart melting. "I love you too Wally."

They hugged for a moment before Wally pulled back, arms still wrapped around her, and his speedster ways of being hyperactive appeared through his movements.

He was so happy and it warmed Artemis' heart.

"Tell me about our kid babe, I have a feeling I have a lot to catch up on."

* * *

now i'm dancing in the ashes

* * *

Artemis is too lost in her mind to even notice that Wally and she had made it to the apartment, his arm lowering from her shoulders to prod her side. "Babe?" She met his concerned eyes with a failed attempt of hiding her emotions.

"What?"

His fingers grazed softly against the skin of her arm as he moved out of the way so she could see the complex apartment building looming in front of them. "We're here." She nodded hazily, going to move but Wally adjusting his body so that he blocked her from going anywhere. "What's eating at you Artemis?" His fingers trail all over the exposed skin of her body, causing zigzags of warmth to shoot through her veins when she sighs and looks up to him.

"I just can't," she pauses and take another breath, forcing her breathing to match the flutter of his touch; "get past how Aeron acted. It was like he was talking to someone else that was in the room with him."

Wally looked grim, his lips tugged downwards and orbs hardened. "There's something wrong with him, something messed up in his brain. Dick and I tried to figure it out one week but even while he spied on him and I took notes and crunched numbers we came up with nothing. Doesn't help that any medical history has been wiped from the international servers. Dick checked everywhere."

"Does he see things?" Wally went soundless at that, actually unsure of the answer.

"I think so. Sometimes he'll scream at someone he calls Mother to be quiet. Today, well today I'm not sure who he was yelling at. It uh, it never got that bad before."

She can sense that he's uncomfortable talking about the man, anxious at the thought of his time there. So Artemis simply nods and then takes his hand and pulls him with her the rest of the way to the apartment. They both stay silent as they head up the creaky stairs and only when they are facing the closed door does Wally speak in a hushed whisper. "He's in there isn't he?"

Artemis nods, swallowing the dry lump in her throat. She didn't know how Ace would react, she only clung onto the hope that he would be excited more than anything else.

"Yeah. He is."

Wally exhales slowly to slow his racing heart before reaching for the doorknob and turning it, the green door squeaking loudly as it swung open. Three sets of eyes turned to look back at the two and the low hum of chatter between the two adults inside of the room ceased effortlessly.

* * *

and there's no one else around

* * *

Wally entered the room slowly, eyes locked on the little boy who was hiding behind Oliver's leg—eyes locked on the little boy who was his son. Artemis closed the door with a calm thud, trailing mutely behind Wally as Oliver's eyes flickered from one to another.

Dick stood next to the older man, arms crossed and domino mask ditched on the kitchen counter behind them. Wally advances far enough into the room so that he's only feet away from where the three are standing, looking around once before crouching down and holding out a hand towards Ace.

He smiled sheepishly, "Um, kid?" he questioned coarsely, Dick holding in the laugh that threatened to leave him. Laughing would just ruin the moment . . . even as small as it was. Ace inched out from around Oliver's leg, one hand still catching the green material of his pants.

"Yeah?" Wally smiled gently at Ace's miniature voice, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"I uh, I brought your daddy back." Artemis held her breath, fingernails digging into the skin of her crossed arms. Ace slowly left the safety of Oliver's pant leg, walking over to where Wally sat crouched on the floor.

"You did?" Wally watched his son's feet shuffle towards him, small and hesitant.

"Yeah bud. I made a promise, didn't I?"

Ace stopped moving once he was close enough to Wally, his arm brushing against Wally's leg as he nodded. "Yeah, Momma told me that promises are always meant to be kept."

Artemis smiled, Dick chuckling a little as Oliver watched with pride. He wouldn't want any other kid to be his, even if Ace _was_ part of one smartass speedster that got on his nerves. Wally cleared his throat, grabbing one of Ace's tiny hands in his own. He was so small.

"Listen, I know your expecting some type of big buff guy with an angry face who stumbles in here and pulls you into a huge hug, which I can understand after being gone for your entire life, but that isn't what's gonna happen. No big tough guy just me and I'm sorry if you were expecting somebody better than me because I know I look like a scrawny guy who nobody could love but your momma loves me with all of heart and even though I don't know you as well as she does I love you just the same kid and—"

He grunted suddenly, Ace plowing into him and straightforwardly stopping Wally's meaningless bumbling.

The little boy wrapped his arms tight around Wally's neck, squeezing lovingly as he buried his face into the man's shoulder; some tears even finding their way down his cheeks. Wally kept his arms out in shock for a second more before finally understanding that Ace was _his_ and that he loved _him_ before deliberately wrapping his arms around his son's back—holding firmly.

Nobody spoke as father and son embraced for the first time, holding on to each other like as if it was their lifeline. That silence lasted a full minute before Ace sniffed and pulled back slightly, still in his father's hold, and speaking.

"I missed you Daddy," Wally chuckled, his body rumbling with the sound and reassuring Ace that any monsters weren't going to get him from the closest and that he would be okay.

"I've missed you too kiddo. You don't know how much I've missed you."

It stung his heart, the words he spoke, but that was alright. He might've missed out on the first three years of his son being in the world but he wasn't going to miss out on anymore.

He wouldn't leave his family.

Never again.

* * *

'cause I wanna be a part of something

* * *

Artemis puts Ace to bed after Wally and he share stories for another hour, the three gathering in the living room so that the full story of where they had been for four years could be told. Oliver had headed home after pulling both boys into a tight hug and whispering 'I'm glad you're both back' in their ears and making the three swear that they would be at Mount Justice first thing in the morning so they could explain their story all over again to everyone there (he told them he would contact the Young Justice Team and Justice League about their arrival and set up a meeting for first thing in the morning).

With a final hug and fatherly kiss to Artemis' cheek he was gone, the ivy suit and himself blending into the night colors and disappearing.

Dick and Wally sat next to each other on the couch while Artemis perched herself on the new armchair that sat facing the television off to the right, twisting her body so that her two friends were in her vision. She was the first to speak, exhaling to prepare herself for whatever they were about to tell her.

She knew it wasn't going to be pretty, just a gut feeling. "Ready?"

* * *

this is just a story of a broken soul

* * *

"After torturing us for however long, I don't know it felt like we had been there for ages, he put a knife in each of us." Dick started, pulling up his shirt almost all the way to show a faded pink scar about a meter wide that curved around the marred skin above his stomach, dropping it like as it had burned him a moment later (all had gotten changed into civvies after Ace had dozed off). "I got one in the chest and it hurt like hell. Stabbing isn't too forgiving, just don't ever get stabbed Art." Dick mulled, Wally chuckling half-heartily as he turned and tugged up the side of his shirt which proudly showed a similar looking scar near his hip bone, maybe a few centimeters above.

"Then we made up and promptly died." Wally muttered, scratching at his chin and sighing.

Artemis kept quiet, not sure if opening her mouth would bring on the waterworks or cause a scream to rip from her insides.

Dick seemed privately repulsed at the next words that left his mouth, "Aeron told us that I was dead for fifteen seconds before stabbing a needle into my chest, while Wally was dead for forty five. The needle was filled with something nicknamed FTO2-CO2-B. That stood for Fear Toxin Number Two, Cure Number Two and Brainwashing."

Wally scoffed at the memory, cutting in. "This guy's endgame is to make everyone else in the world feel the pain he's felt his entire life. So he created a manic type of cure for himself, to make himself stronger—though it did have side effects of deforming some of his features—so he would be able to take over the world. He became a speedster, got a tad bit of super strength from that shit he had Bane take—that toxic stuff. But really his plan backfired."

Dick nodded, "He wanted to silence anyone who had ever made fun of him by becoming something unbeatable and handsome. That cure gave him the unbeatable part but lacked the beauty and turned his multiple skin deformations and scars into bumps and grey-bolded veins."

Artemis waited a moment, waited for the tension in the air to settle. "So what was his obsession with having you guys?"

Dick and Wally looked at each other and then back to Artemis, the former taking the blunt of having to respond.

"For years he has been kidnapping people from ages eighteen to thirty in hopes of finding the 'perfect host' for his spinoff cure and then he stumbled across us. He paid big money to Sportsmaster for succeeding in kidnapping me and then ran out of funds to kidnap Wally so he did it himself with the help of Bane and a stale promise that Bane could break a few bones which was enough motivation for him apparently. Between the time Wally was recovering he ejected the first cure into himself which then allowed him so kidnap us so easily the second time. After putting us through hell and taking multiple tests he killed us and put the second cure into our bloodstreams."

"It works as a virus. It gave us heart attacks to get our hearts going fast enough to 'awaken' us, and then slowed it back down to normal pace so we could live." Wally mumbled, picking at his fingers.

Dick waited a second before talking again, "So there we were. Alive and breathing but now with something in our bloodstream that made us . . . do things. The cure attached to a few separate red blood cells and from that tiny amount of blood cells Aeron was in control of anything. And he could make us to do anything as long as he was focused on us and nothing else. That is why we have time now, though limited, because his frenzied episodes always last at least a few hours to a day."

Wally rubbed at his eyes, "It hurts. Not just physical, not just the feeling of your veins freezing over and boiling under your skin—but mentally too. Just the thought of not being able to do whatever you want is crazy and it hurts." Artemis held in the tears as Dick ran a hand through his hair, muscles tensing.

"The first year was more torture. Teaching us to obey rules and _mental_ training," he spat, distaste clear in his letters. "The second year was learning how to be evil. Robbing banks, stealing things from stores, how to knock out someone without killing them in fifty ways."

Wally laughed bitterly at that, like a twisted funny memory had hit him.

"He had us practice that on each other. It was fucked up." He added dryly and Artemis held in her gasp.

"Year three was bigger. Aeron started getting worse, more crazed. Had us practice hostage situations in banks in our civvies and black ski masks all over Gotham. He knew the Justice League wouldn't pay attention to a few more petty criminal cases in Gotham, the place was full of enough dirt bags to fill up a dump. He had us take expensive things we didn't need, forced us to watch as you guys suffered and Bruce and Barry's friendship fell to pieces."

Wally instantly paled at the mention of his uncle, obviously not expecting Dick to have said his name so easily. Dick knew Wally wasn't going to be up for speaking for a few more minutes so he continued unaffected—he had learned to hide his feelings a _long_ time ago.

"This fourth year was the worse. Aeron pushed us to the limit and told us that we would have to kill Bruce and Barry, our father figures, to show that we were fully dedicated to him. To show that we were his. We went through with it." Dick cut off curtly, mouth snaking in repugnance as Wally figured he should give his best bud a break in talking.

"Then after we proved our worth he told us about his final game plan; Operation Blackout."

Artemis nodded along, eyeing Dick who had gone completely silent and looking wishfully at his hands. "He mentioned that when he had me." Wally met his girlfriend's eyes for a second before looking at his feet again.

"It's the apocalypse. Or Aeron's version of it at least. The goal is to create an army of people like Dick and I and then for him to take over the world that way. I don't know how he was going to do it, or why but I know it was going to happen soon. After the um . . . deaths."

Artemis knew the story was finished, even if neither signaled that and without warning Dick mumbled that he was going to bed and hurried to his room, shutting the door softly and then sliding down the wall and crying silently.

Neither sees the flash of red from outside the window or the soft sound of a grapple gun in the eerily nighttime hours as Artemis watches her boyfriend's movements carefully. Wally went to stand but was stopped by Artemis' soft touch on his shoulder, her other hand planting itself on his thigh.

"I'm sorry. For everything you went through." He said nothing as she leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips, his mind too numb to understand that he was supposed to kiss back, before Artemis took his wrist and guided him back to their bedroom.

The door shut behind them softly and they climbed into bed, the blanket covering their bottom-half as both laid on their backs and stared up at the ceiling.

After a moment Artemis turned so her head rested on his chest and she took peace in the steady rise and fall of his chest, her right hand finding its way under his shirt to unintentionally memorize every part of his muscles again, the feel of his skin against hers.

She fell asleep first and then he did a while after, his arms wrapped around her waist by memory.

* * *

i'm burning in the heavens

* * *

"Artemis, B-07. Wallace, B-00."

It's not a shock as Artemis and Ace to zeta into the cave by themselves; Bart and Jamie actually looking to where Oliver and the rest of the Justice League stood to see the hints of a smile to show that it was just one big joke to be having everyone meet at six in the morning.

And as much as it stings to hear Wally's full name through the speakers, it always causes a smile on their faces because Ace is there—bubbling and happy and ready to learn what it takes to be a part of the team.

But just as Gar clutched tighter onto M'gann's hand and Jamie went to snicker, to whisper a smartass comment into Bart's ear and Bart went to comment on the lack of appearance from the boogey man—the zeta beam brightened again and the computer read off two codenames that hadn't been heard in a while.

* * *

and i'm drowning in a hell

* * *

"Nightwing, B-01. Kid Flash, B-03."

It's one _hell_ of a shock as Dick and Wally materialize before the many eyes of the teams, both in full uniform and grins plastered onto their faces. Wally turns towards Ace and scoops him up in his arms, the little boy laughing happily as Oliver watches the faces around him gawk with shock for a few more seconds.

Until Bart zips over to where Wally is standing and crushes him in a hug, which for some reason propels everyone else into motion as Gar bolts over to where Dick is standing and jumps up to hug him.

Then laughter and joy is filling the room and Wally doesn't let go of Ace once, skillfully switching him from shoulder to shoulder so he can hug different people. After almost everyone, excluding Conner who grunted and tried to hide the smile from his face, spoke what was on their mind to the two—Dick got everyone's attention with a simple cackle that was fully and unbelievably his.

He notices the absence of Zatanna with a heavy heart but hides it with a cocky look and smug grin; though a part of him can't help but wonder why she wasn't there.

He pushes away the fear that Cooper got to her again so he can speak, "We've missed you guys a lot. But right now we have more important things to deal with. The man that took us is still a threat to all of us, really we shouldn't have come here."

Kaldur knitted his eyebrows, "What exactly are you hinting at old friend?"

Bart and Jamie sparing a curious glace at each other before Tim interrupted on his own account. "The man is Aeron Hyades right?"

Dick sighed at both questions and answered Tim first, white silted eyes meeting and identical pair. "Aeron Hyades, Victory as he calls himself, was the one who took us. He put something in our bloodstreams, something that makes us not ourselves. He can control us, make us do things without our consent from his mind as long as he has focus."

"Like brainwashing?" M'gann cut in, eyes wide. "That's impossible."

J'onn agrees with his niece from the sidelines, looking to Dick with a rickety face. "Brainwashing can only be done by the extremely skilled Martians of our kind. Even then, it takes decades upon decades to master."

Dick's lips turned down in a sharp frown, "Well Aeron figured it out and we have it in our bloodstreams. Our first priority needs to be getting it out of us so no harm comes to any of you guys."

Wally gave a sideways glance to Artemis as the sight of Barry's mangled body passed through both of their minds, Dick blinking away the vision of Bruce's blood on the floor work. Hal stepped forwards, eyes focused on Dick. "Our first priority should be finding the man who murdered Flash and Batman," he muttered evenly, loud enough for the whole room to hear him.

Besides Bruce and Oliver, Hal also used to be one of Barry's close friends in the League.

Clark turned on Hal, "We don't even know if that's true."

Hal said nothing, instead turning back to where Dick stood with a scowl. "Was he behind their deaths Nightwing?"

Wally felt the knots form in his stomach, Artemis noticing and grabbing his hand. Gar knew Dick was trembling next to him but had no idea why, the man hiding it was well as Bruce could hide unshed tears after an unneeded death by one of Harley's goons in Gotham.

Dick settled on changing the subject, "You need to get this out of us before he takes control again. Kill us if you have to but I will kill myself if it comes to him trying to hurt one of you guys through me." He stated firmly, Dinah nodding.

"The Justice League will go and hunt down some doctors that can operate on you two. For now just sit tight here and be safe."

As the rest of the Justice League took their exit through the zeta tube, knowing through Oliver that they would get a full explanation on what exactly had happened as soon as he got one from Artemis, he lagged behind; grabbing the final member of the League (which happened to be Clark) and telling him he was staying before they disappeared.

Moments later, the zeta tube came to life again and many people in the room turned to look and see who it was even as the name was read out loudly.

"Zatanna, B-08—A-03."

Dick whipped around instantly, Zatanna in the mist of looking down and wiping specks of dirt off her outfit as she walked forwards blindly.

"Sorry I'm late I got caught up with something with Doctor Fate and so help me Bart, if you say one smartass comment about my boobs hanging out I will kill—" she glanced up and the final word left her lips in a hushed undertone, "—you."

She locked eyes with Dick and they stared at each other for a long tong, until Bart broke the silence with an obnoxious remark. "Well I didn't make any jokes but I'm pretty sure Dick over here can't wait—mmf!"

He was cut sort as Jamie slung a hand over his mouth to silence him, "Shut _it_. If there is ever a time when you need to stop talking, that time would be now amigo."

The two's bickering words seemed to snap Dick and Zatanna into motion as she ran to him, her lips pressing against his in a tense moment of passion.

He wrapped his arms around her tightly and his hands dangled near her lower back as hers tangled in his hair. The kiss deepened and he used all of his strength to _not_ do what he really wanted to do, considering they were in a room with adolescents and _Wally_ plus _Bart_. They pulled away when she needed breath and he leaned in for what looked like a hug on the outside, but secretly pressing a few kisses to her neck on the inside.

She smiled, her hands falling to wrap around his neck and then he pulled back and looked into her eyes and the pure desire they showed caused her heart to lurch like it did during their first ever hookup.

Though that contact was broken when she saw the smirk latching onto his lips and rolled her eyes at the matter as everyone around them went back to minding their own business and multiple conversations started.

"I thought you were dead," she muttered, Dick laughing as she lifted a hand and brushed the hair out of the way of his domino mask.

"I think we both know that I didn't die. Who else was going to save you from that cheating lowlife?" She leaned in and her lips brushed against his before speaking, her minty breath causing goosebumps to appear on his skin.

"Thank you. He's gone now." Dick closed the distance between them with a short kiss before pulling back with that adorable boyish smile she had fallen in love with from years ago present.

"Been cheating on with me Bart all these years huh?"

She hit him playfully on the shoulder, scoffing. "In his dreams. It's always been you."

He grinned, "I love you, as much as I know I shouldn't and I do."

She chortled, fingers running over his flushed cheeks. "I love you too and I've missed you a lot."

* * *

my soul is in a coma

* * *

Ace holds onto Wally's shoulder as the older man talks to Artemis about some explicit things from his dream that they could do, the latter trying her best to keep a straight face so she can continue cutting him off and yelling at him for saying such things in front of his son.

She had just cut him off for the sixth time when he finally gave up with a well-rehearsed fake pout.

"Four years and you don't want anything to do with me!"

She rolls her eyes, "I want everything to do with you Baywatch, just not in front of Ace!"

Wally whined lowly, "He's three, he doesn't have any idea what—"

Suddenly he gasped and grabbed at his chest with his free hand, quickly lowering to his knees and releasing Ace. The boy ran over to hide behind his mother's legs as she moved to Wally's side; Kaldur, M'gann, Dick and Zatanna running over to see what they could do to help. "Wally? Wally, talk to me." She mumbled nervously, freezing when his hand grabbed her elbow harsher than he intended to. He lifted his face, eyes darting between her and a cowering Ace.

"B-B—Babe, r-run."

Before she could question him, Dick was backing away from Zatanna—feeling the unmistakable hold of Aeron over him start to control him. The group turned towards the nighttime hero, Zatanna's face blanching.

"Dick?" He shakes his head and takes a step back as she takes a step forward.

"G-Get Ace out of h-here Zee, h-h—he has us."

She sent a look to Artemis before everything clicked and by then it was far too late as all hell broke loose.


	8. eight

**_This_** **chapter contains:**

Spoilers: Season 1 and 2

Random Lyrics from: Do or Die by Papa Roach

Pairings: Heavy spitfire, DaddyGreenArrow and small bits of Chalant

Important Extra Notes: The big kickass chapter is now here! I would like to give a big thank you to all of the reviewers along with the favorites and follows this has gotten. :) There are two chapters left after this one and then the main story will be finished. I am still debating on if I want to update 'bonus chapters' which would basically be drabbles/one-shots that take place in the verse of this story. Let me know what you guys think. Oh and I might be posting a spitfire no superpowers au after finishing this story up—you guys think you would want to read that or no?

 _This_ chapter is **rated teen for** pieces of improper language, heavy violence, graphic detail of injuries, hefty angst and one sentence of disturbing matter at the end of this chapter.

* * *

 **In response to the most recent Guest Reviewer for ch 7** —

I had an amazing answer for you five minutes ago and then my Microsoft Word stopped working and it got erased.

 _Completely_.

So I am going to try this again and hopefully say all of the same things I had written down before . . . though I've already forgotten most of it so I apologize if this seems jumbled or not thought out correctly.

First and foremost, thank you for taking the time to leave such a detailed review and I believe I have (what I think) are some good reasons. Dick and Wally have been subjected to a lot of Aeron's episodes but the problem is that they are always different, always changing. Some would be worse than others so when he went into the worst they had ever seen with Artemis in the room—their minds went to getting her _out_ of there instead of taking the common sense route of striking him when he was down and freeing themselves for good.

At the time, their minds were going "oh my God Artemis found us, we can get out of here and see family," instead of more rational thoughts.

As to why they got so close to everyone with the serum still in them; Dick and Wally were in a daze with seeing everyone they had missed after being so lonely for four years I mean Artemis had a kid that Wally had no idea existed until a few minutes before. They were not thinking straight, I was trying my best to put them into the shoes of two survivors that had just finally escaped something traumatic and how they would react (in this case, not wanting to be alone).

I really hope this sheds some light on things and please let me know if you have any further questions.

Also, ch 8 will not be the last chapter, this story still has two more to go! ;)

 _Please_ feel _free_ to leave a review with your thoughts about this chapter since you do not have an account! :)

* * *

today i saw my hero fall apart

* * *

"Ace!"

Artemis lunges for her son but is stopped by two batarangs flying by her face. She looks up and sees Dick flipping out of the way of Conner's fists, turning and whipping out a smoke pellet to engulf the room near him. She turns back around to see Ace backing up towards the wall behind him, a yellow figure darting around in circles near him.

"Artemis!" Oliver's voice is close to her but she coughs from the dusty smoke clogging her senses, eyes darting around as she tries to find his green suit in the mass of fighting and bodies.

Her fists clench at her sides as she hears a cry of pain from her left (that sounds eerily like M'gann's voice) and then a loud grunt from her right only to lash around and see Oliver's body flying backwards into the harsh ground.

She hurries over to his side and the feeling inside of her, the one where she feels naked and helpless, hits her in full strength as she grabs Oliver by the arm and helps him stand again. He glances at her through his domino mask and places a hand on her shoulder, his head tilting towards the quiver on his back.

"Grab it and go," she looks horrified at what he's proposing.

It was one thing for her to be without her weapons but it was an entirely different thing if she took Oliver's—rendering him helpless against any attacks sent his way. A shout from Zatanna echoed from the right as the grey smoke around them slowly started to dissipate, Oliver grabbing onto Artemis' shoulders to get her attention.

"Artemis listen to me!" His shout caused her insides to knot in fear because his tone wasn't as strong as it always was, she could hear the tremor in his letters and it freaking unnerved her because that met this situation was serious.

That this was serious and that Ace was right there in the middle of it all.

Oliver's sparkling eyes searched hers, hairline matted down by the sweat that was taking over his body from the pain he was hiding. "Listen to me sweetheart," he muttered, switching his voice over to that damn fatherly tone he used whenever Artemis would go to him for 'Wally's Acting Stupid Again Advice Sessions' back when the two had first started dating; "I need you to be strong. Wally and Dick, th—they aren't in their own minds right now and if you give a second of hesitation w-when you could've taken a shot they will kill you and everyone else in h-here."

She wasn't a stranger to the tiny stumble in his words, the constant twitch of the corner of his lips.

"You need to get Ace out o-of here and then y-you need the help the t-team take t-them d-do—down."

Artemis watched him flinch, though he tried to hide it, and as the smoke finally cleared out completely her eyes flickered down to where he was clutching at his side only to see the sight of blood dripping down his side and pink flesh through the gaps in his fingers. "Ollie—"

The man in question shook his head, one hand moving down to grab her arm punitively so that he would fall over from the agony overcoming him. "I-It's nothing s-s—sweetheart, your boyfriend j-just tried to vibrate his f-fist through m-my ribcage. I stopped him in time, I'll b-be okay."

Suddenly Ace's voice came from behind Artemis and she turned around to see a yellow blur running around him in the starting formation of a vortex and her heart fell, "Momma!"

She turned back around to Oliver who was watching the situation unfold before him with half lidded eyes, "G-Go sweetheart. Hit that b-bullseye right o-on the h-head."

" _So breathe and then let the arrow do the rest of—"_

 _Her fingers released the arrow without a second thought, the sharpened tip of the steel weapon launching itself perfectly into the wood bullseye before the two._

"— _the work." Oliver finished, shaking his head and sighing._

 _Artemis rolled her eyes; making her way across the fallen hallowed trees and roots of the forest ground, throwing a snappy remark over her shoulder. "My whole family is full of hardened criminals that have been teaching me how to kill people from the day I was born, remember 'Uncle'?" she stated dully, making it to the red bullseye and jerking the arrow from the dead wood._

 _Oliver crossed his arms as he watched the young girl stomp back over to where he was standing, eyes full of poorly hidden resentment._

" _Your past doesn't define you Artemis." She scoffed, lining her feet up with the burnt branch that served as a line marker for the distance he had wanted her to shoot at._

" _I'm pretty sure mine does I mean, just think of what would happen if the team found out. If Wally found out," she muttered, loading the arrow into the pulled string of her bow._

 _Oliver chuckled, "Yeah I'm sure hell would be put to shame if that annoying speedster you hate oh so much found out." She didn't say anything and Oliver saw the shaking of the arrow. "Sweetheart," he tried but she didn't waste time in cutting the man off before he could finish._

" _Don't use that damn pity tone on me Ollie!" Artemis snapped, arrow slipping from her hold and falling to the wooded ground._

 _He took a step forwards and placed a calming hand on her shoulder, "You aren't your family Artemis. We are all destined to be different from everyone else in the world and your roots do not ever force you into being something you're not. I mean look at you now. You're a superhero and you're on a team that cares about you and you have a guy who really, really cares about you. You aren't ever going to become your family, alright? Not if I have anything to say about it sweetheart. Now pick up that damn arrow and hit that bullseye right on the head."_

The next thing she knew her hands were moving without permission as she grabbed the bow from the ground in front of him and unwrapped the quiver's strap from around his chest, being mindful of the wound as she slung it over her back. Next she helped him over to the wall in front of him, his body sliding down the wall and hitting the floor with a thump.

He sent her a final reassuring smile and she turned around; quickly grabbing an arrow and loading it into the bowstring.

She watched the speeding blur that was Wally carefully as the vortex around Ace grew, the tip of the arrow shaking slightly because of how tightly her fingers were holding onto the pearly white string. Her eyes followed Wally deliberately until she saw Ace's fearful eyes in the blurry background.

"Momma! Help me!"

Without any second thought of how much pain she could be putting Wally in her digits released the arrow and it flew into the vortex, hitting it's mark with a sudden rush of speed and roar of pain. The vortex halted in place, rushing air dying down as she run towards Ace and picked him up; hugging him tightly against her form. Her hair brushed against his cheek as she sighed happily, heart hammering as she tried to ignore the constant sounds of her boyfriend in pain behind her.

She pulled back slightly from Ace, looking at his watery eyes and her thumb lifting up to stroke the tear trail off one of his cheeks. "Oh baby, are you okay?"

Ace nodded and she could feel him trembling against her body, "I'm scared Momma, what's going on?"

She shushed him, running her fingers through his curly locks. "I need you to run baby, I need you to run somewhere safe alright? Run faster than you ever have in your entire life." She whispered, crouching down and letting go of her son so his feet hit the floor but his little hands held on tightly to the material of her shirt.

"Momma—"

"Wallace," it stung, saying that word out loud—she hadn't called him that since the day he was born, "run baby, _run_."

That's when she turned and pushed him towards the direction where the cave's rooms were, her eyes watching him carefully as he backed up a few steps before turning and running towards the dorms; mind racing.

He needed to tell Mister Jason, he needed help.

He needed to save his momma.

Artemis watched her son until she was sure she heard the sound of one of the room's doors click shut and then she whipped around, seeing Wally finally throwing his body into a standing position as he yanked the arrow out of his shoulder with a wince. Blood dripped down the slim material of his suit, glistening in the light of the cave as explosions and yells increased around them.

It scared Artemis how unhuman his orbs looked, decorated with malice and a blank mind. She prepped another arrow, loading it into the string of the bow and aiming. Her mind screamed at itself, over and over again—reminding herself that it wasn't Wally before her, it was Aeron controlling him and Aeron trying to kill them all and to stop Aeron she needed to stop Wally.

"Babe," she called, voice shaking as his chest heaved up and down in anger, "babe please wake up. Come back to me Baywatch, please don't make me hurt you!"

The man before her just stared, fingers vibrating softly and shoulders quivering as Aeron pushed his body to the max limits it could go. Then his mouth opened and out came a voice that was _his_ but not his at all. "He's gone Artemis. It's just you and me now."

An arrow flew and a zap of air followed.

* * *

the one who taught me to be strong

* * *

Meanwhile, everyone else was trying to fight against Dick and they were learning through the hard way of getting bumps and bruises that it was never smart to go up against a protégée of the Batman. "Robin! How do we stop him?" Conner questioned, dodging what would've been an escrima stick to the throat. Tim glanced at Barbara who seemed to be just as lost.

Dick never got as close to them as he did when Jason was around. Him and Jason, they were inseparable—even though Jason always talked about how much he hated him, he wasn't fooling anyone with his words.

Then when they lost Jason, Dick got distant. He didn't really talk to Tim and even Alfred's cooking didn't cheer him up. After they lost Jason Dick had tended to train by himself which wasn't helping now because all of his moves were unpredictable and far too violent to be stopped before they landed.

Dick flipped out of the way of Bart whooshing past him, turning just in time to press an explosive device to the back of his suit but as Bart skidded to a stop and Jamie moved towards him it was too late and the explosive went off, throwing the young speedster into the far wall. Kaldur turned towards M'gann and Gar, "Go and help Blue Beetle get Impulse to safety!"

They both didn't waste a second in obeying, Gar turning into a lion and M'gann turning invisible as they hurried over to where Jamie stood, lifting up an unconscious Bart from the ground.

Kaldur brought down his water whips so an ocean of water slammed into Dick, meeting the eyes of Barbara and Tim. "We need his attention to stay on us so they can get Impulse out of here!"

Tim narrowed his eyes as he brought out three batarangs and one smoke pellet from his belt, "On it!"

Before either could protest he was running towards the swell of water, finding Dick's slowly standing up form and throwing a smoke bomb forward. It detonated with a hiss, Dick coughing as he inhaled a good amount of it before turning around to find Tim's foot colliding with his gut. He recoiled as Tim threw the batarangs, each hitting Dick's suit and leaving torn bloody spots in their wake, before leaving the explosive in front of him and back flipping back to where Barbara stood watching.

A loud triple beep was heard before a blast rocked the room, the only sounds there was the repetitive motion of arrows flying through the air and Wally trying to get the speedster upper hand on Artemis.

Out of the corner of Kaldur's eye he saw the three carrying Bart through the infirmary doors—the four disappearing to safety. Conner, Zatanna, Kaldur, Cassie and Tim watched the dense black cloud of smoke from the explosion worriedly while La'gaan cheered with a raise of his fists next to Barbara. "We d—"

The sound of a cracking as a Dick unexpectedly leaped from the shadows and knocked him in the shoulder with one of his sticks was too fast to be stopped and then the only thing after that was La'gaan withering in pain on the floor, one hand clutching his bad shoulder excruciatingly.

Cassie looked to Tim with a perplexed expression on her features, "Did he just—"

"—break La'gaan's shoulder in two places? Yeah, I think so."

Conner looked shocked and that was saying a lot from the clone as they watched him run towards Dick as the two engaged in a fist fight of dodging while Barbara and Tim rushed to La'gaan's side. They lifted him up carefully by the shoulders, Cassie offering her arm so she could switch out with Tim. Kaldur looked to both of the girls before they left with a curt nod, "Get him to the infirmary with M'gann and then stay in there. I can't risk any more of this team getting hurt."

They both looked like they wanted to interject but Tim stepped in, care laced behind the white slits of his mask. "Batgirl, we both know full well what Dick's capable of. Bats taught him and Jay each bone in the body and how to break them. You both need to get to safety. Please."

They didn't argue as they started hauling La'gaan towards the infirmary—leaving Kaldur, Tim and Zatanna destitute to watch the fight between Conner and Dick.

"Snap out of it Nightwing!" Conner speedily boomed and then was cut short as Dick threw a crazy amount of batarangs his way, trapping him against a far wall.

"Shit," Zatanna breathed at the sight, as Dick threw three explosives Conner's way.

"No!" Tim shouted, but it was too late as detonations rattled the cave once again, Conner getting knocked out cold in the process and once the smoke cleared the three could see his head hanging limp and they couldn't help but pray to whoever was above in hopes that he was still breathing.

Then Tim was running in a blind rage towards Dick, who knocked him out easily with a near perfect hit to the back of the neck by use of his escrima sticks.

Kaldur and Zatanna looked at each other and the former seemed to know what she was thinking because he shook his head with a heavy heart, "Zatanna, no. We do not know how this control works and by the looks of it, that man behind this isn't releasing his hold until all of us are gone."

She looked at Kaldur with hardened eyes, "I have to try."

And with that she was running towards him and holding up her hands in surrender.

* * *

on the outside i look fine

* * *

Ace bit his bottom lip nervously as he waited for Jason to show up, the red tee-shirt he had found in Dick's old closet sitting on the bed like a stale checkmate. The little boy had hope that he was going to show up, he had made a promise and Ace knew from his mom that you never broke a promise. Plus he did hold true to his other promise about bringing his dad and uncle back and they were even better people than Ace had thought they would be.

They were amazing and they were caring and the little boy absolutely loved the hugs that Wally would crush him in—they were so heartfelt and full of love that it was like warmth flowing through his entire body.

"Kid?" Ace blinked and saw Jason standing cautiously at the other end of the room, one had resting on one of his side pistols. "You alright kid? What's wrong?" The little boy felt his body freeze in happiness or relief, he didn't know but Jason was there. He kept his promise and that was all that mattered.

Jason took a step forward, finger drumming on the cool copper of the pistol, as it seemed to calm him down in grave circumstances.

Then without warning Ace ran towards Jason and wrapped his arms around his hips, the older crouching down so the younger boy could bury his face into his hooded shoulder. He tentatively patted Ace on the back, feeling his shoulder grow damp from the tears behind left there. Jason had trouble swallowing the newly found lump in his throat. "K-Kid?" It came out weaker than he intended it to, his voice throaty with emotion.

Ace sniffled, "T-The b-bad man h-h-h—he has m-my daddy and U-Uncle Dick a—a—and they're attacking M-Momma and e-everyone else!" Jason was glad he was wearing a mask because from how fast his face changed (from sadness, to understanding and then to anger) probably could've set a record. Ace hiccupped and it brought Jason out of his ire-filled stupor, the man pulling back a little so his mask was even with Ace's reddened face.

"Alright, alright kiddo. Chill out, it's all gonna be alright. I promise I'm gonna make this better, everything is gonna be alright."

 _Stop crying bro, it's just a broken arm. You'll be fine, suck it up. What would you be telling me?_

More salty tears leaked from Ace's eyes and Jason raised a gloved hand to sensibly wipe the damn things off. If there was one thing he hated more than anything else in this life of his, it was people crying.

 _Jay don't go after him, you will wait until Batman gets there to help you. Don't ignore—Jason!_

"W-What if D-Daddy hurts M-Momma and then s-she leaves like Grandpa Barry and doesn't come back? I don't want to lose my momma Jay." Ace muttered fearfully and Jason saw a younger version of himself, beaten and broken, at the Joker's mercy all because he hadn't listened to Dick. All because he didn't wait for backup from Bruce.

Jason shushed the boy, rubbing his arms. "Listen to me kid, I'm gonna make everything okay. I promise you, I fucking _promise_ you I will save them alright? Now I just need you to stay here so that you're safe while I go save your family alright?"

So maybe he shouldn't have cursed in front of a little kid but he wanted Ace to know he met it and it seemed like he understood.

"O-Okay."

 _Jay what's happening out th—why are, wait—lift your head Jay so I can see through the mask camera._

Jason gently removed Ace's grip from around his waist, lifting him up and moving him over to the bed. He set him down and moved the freshly made blanket so it covered him up to his scrawny shoulders, making sure the pillow was fluffed behind his head. Ace wiped at his nose as Jason reached into the red pocket of his hood and pulled out a rusty, old screwdriver.

 _Holy shit is that the Joker? No . . . no. No don't you close your eyes on me Jason. I'm coming to get you._

"This is really stupid but this damned thing, it makes me feel safe. I want you to hold onto it until I come back and tell you it's safe alright? Can you keep an eye on that for me kid?" Ace nodded and Jason passed the tool over, smiling though the contraction of his lips couldn't be seen. "I'll be right back kid alright? Stay here."

 _You're doing great Jay, just keep your eyes open bro I'm coming. I'll be there in five minutes just hold on._

Jason moved towards the door and took a deep breath, hands fumbling near the hostlers located at his hips before moving towards the knob. Since his last meeting with Ace he had studied up on the man that had done all of these things to Dick and Wally; working all hours of the night in finding a way to stop it and he had found a way to stop it.

To stop it once and for all and to keep Ace safe.

It had to be done.

 _Don't give up on me Jason. Don't you freaking give up._

That was when the static had kicked in—when the Joker had started disconnecting his suit trackers and communicators. That's when Jason had heard his final words from his brother before 'dying' months' later after unstoppable and unbearable torture.

 _Don't you dare—I'll kick your—ass when you—hold—Jason! Don't you leave me you little troll—_

The memory is clear as day in Jason's ears, the muffled static had cut off Dick's voice before he had fainted. Without any more thought, Jason turned the doorknob and left the room; shutting and making sure it was locked afterwards.

Then he ran towards the main room of the cave hideout.

* * *

but on the inside i am dying

* * *

"Wally! Listen to me you mindless idiot!" Artemis' screech fell on deaf ears as Zatanna tried to do the same thing with Dick—both meeting horrid dead ends. The three were backed in a corner as Dick and Wally moved closer to them, Oliver passed out in a pool of his own blood a few feet away.

Kaldur looked to Artemis, "We cannot stop them! We are all but trapped!"

Zatanna attempted to lift her arms and say a spell but was stopped by a batarang clipping her thumb, a trail of blood starting to flow down her arm. She gasped from the shock and looked up only to meet the dead eyes of her lover's. A rage burned inside of her for the man who was controlling them; a rage that would only cease when he was dead.

Artemis loaded another arrow and lined it up with the brawl of Wally's vibrating chest, tip following his forever moving logo.

But then a thought struck her and she lowered her bow as the two slowly advanced towards them. She turned her head to meet the eyes of Zatanna who understood completely, Kaldur knowing that the two were up to something but not entirely sure of what it was. Without any warning Artemis pulled two arrows from her quiver and tossed one to Zatanna—both flipping the arrows around and pressing the refined tips against their necks, well enough to draw blood. Artemis gulped before speaking, keeping her voice as sturdy as possible.

"I know you guys are in there!"

She could see Dick's hands shaking as they froze at the hem of his belt, Wally's googles moving far too fast on their own to still be stationed so correctly on the top of his head.

Hesitation flashes between their eyes.

Zatanna closes her eyes for a second, reopening them and hating the way the steel of the arrow feels against her throat. "He doesn't have control over you! You can win."

Then there's a whish of air and the arrows aren't in their hands anymore but are instead falling from Wally's hands and hitting the ground with a loud clatter. Artemis and Zatanna see Wally breathing heavily and when he looks to his girlfriend it's enough to know that he was able to break out of Aeron's control. He wheezes, feeling the pain from his shoulder hit him in a powerful wave and the tears flutter to the front of Artemis' eyesight.

His eyes lock with hers carefully, "Baywatch?" She questions, Wally looking around wild as he tries to connect what he had done and the dots of blood on their necks isn't reassuring.

"A-Artemis?"

And Dick's hands abruptly swipe upwards as the domino mask falls to the ground and he smiles when he sees Zatanna before him, rubbing at his irate irises. Kaldur watches the two suspiciously, feeling as if Aeron wouldn't be one to release his hold so _easily_.

But just as everything seems to be okay—a scream rips from Wally's throat and Dick shouts out in pain.

* * *

my strength is overcome by pain

* * *

Dick can feel hands around his throat and a part of him thinks it's his own but there's too much pain flowing through his body and his mind is too clouded to put two and two together. He can hear Artemis and Zatanna shouting from somewhere far away, it actually sounds as if they are deep underwater, and he feels the air slowly stop entering his lungs and gags at the thought of his own demise which only makes trying to survive harder.

He turns his head slightly, taking in the sight of the one-sided battle around him.

Wally is holding off everyone at once, zooming this way and that to stop them from gaining any ground to where Dick's convulsing body lays. A part of his mind can faintly put together the thought that Aeron is slowing his death so he can see the show before him.

Wally precipitously freezes and Zatanna goes to say a spell but is stopped by Kaldur who shouts at her because now the nose of a fat pistol is pressed against Wally's cranium. Dick's heart stops and he coughs, feeling something tickle the back of his throat.

He doesn't want to know if it's blood or not.

Dick nearly curses himself for not thinking clearly enough to remove the guns Aeron had strapped to their suits as soon as they cold ("In case you choose not to obey," he had snarled one time after a bad punishment as he shoved the addition to their suits on tightly) a while back.

They had both hated he feel of a gun on their hip, it was too heavy and it felt like it weighed Dick down when he jumped and slowed Wally down when he ran.

"Don't move or I'll shoot!" Dick knew Wally struggled to spit out the letters, each one trembled and held fear that was clearly heard by Artemis who was the first to raise his hands in surrender. It wasn't him actually saying it of course and Dick knew Wally never would've said any of those words in his lifetime otherwise.

The seconds prick away at everyone in the room as Dick can only watch and then suddenly the pressure is harsh around his neck again and he instantly sees black spots swim in front of his vision. He barely has time to allow his lids to slide shut when someone attempts to tear his hands away from his throat and Dick snaps his eyes open just in time to hear the unknown man speak.

"Get the _fuck_ out of his head!"

The man is successful in shocking Aeron enough to allow his grip to weaken on both of the boys and the three other people in the room don't waste time in taking action as the masked man grabs his two hip pistols and fires one, the bullet hitting the gun in Wally's hand and skidding across the floor. He turns back to Dick after holstering one and holds out his empty hand, which Dick takes gratefully as he stands up. His brain is congested, memories vague and unaware.

He looks the man in the mask, mystified almost by the shiny red color staring back at him. "Thanks," he answers and he can hear Artemis running towards them which the man in the red mask glances at shortly before turning his attention back to Dick.

"Can't have you dying on me Dickie, you've already lost one brother. Can't lose yourself too."

Dick feels Aeron's hold come back to him and he can see Wally vibrating from his spot out of the corner of his eye as they start to lose themselves again. The masked man seems to know what is happening and holds both of his pistols up again, aiming one at each mind controlled man. He stares at Dick for a second, the screams of the team behind him nonexistent to his ears.

"Get out of this Dickie, save yourself. Save your damn self and don't do anything else stupid or God _help_ me I will hunt your ass down and kill you for sure." He fires and then lifts a red hood over his mask and grapples away, the team too in shock to chase after him.

Dick's half-awake mind can only hold onto the fact that two people in his life have called him by that nickname and one was dead.

But someone just saved him and the deepened voice sounded eerily familiar.

His thoughts are filled with Wally and Jason as he drifts off to sleep.

* * *

my love for you remains the same

* * *

Wally's head is stuck in a steady beat of pounding when he comes to, his joints screaming out in protest as his heart wallops wildly at the overwhelming feeling of agony consuming him. The sound of fast beeping in the background only causes his headache to grow worse and a new aching from his right shoulder suddenly make's it's presence known with a stab of white hot pain shooting down his arm.

He bites his lip so that he doesn't scream but a quiet whimper sneaks past anyway, echoing into the room. Something touches his left cheek, it's warm and soft, which forces Wally's eyes to snap open.

The first thing he notices is that he's in the cave's infirmary, in a quiet room with a sour smell of disinfectant assailing his nose and dimmed lights. The next thing he realizes is that Artemis is leaning over him, her thumb softly rubbing at his cheek. "It's alright babe, just try to relax. Your body is still trying to recover."

Wally grimaces at another jabbing feeling towards his ribcage, his girlfriend's fingers trailing over every inch of his face as if telling herself that she wasn't in a dream and that he was really there in front of her. He exhales and looks down at the feeling of something in his nose only to see a small pipe blowing oxygen into his system. Wally's eyes travel downwards; the blue flimsy hospital gown open at his chest to show multiple stickers and white gauze highlighting his torso along with a now cold to the touch lustrous white blanket bundled haphazardly around his bottom half.

He groans lowly before his eyes find Artemis' again and that's when he notices that she is seated in a green chair that is pulled up to the side of his bed, hands no longer at his face and now instead interlacing with his. Wally does everything in his power to ignore the IV sticking out of the crook of his elbow (he had started to hate needles and any type of thing involving hospitals with a fiery passion).

Besides the dissimilar types of pain alternating through his body at different times, every other part of his body seemed to be up to par and the beeping of the heart monitor was stable once again.

"How are you feeling?" Artemis whispered, one hand unlatching from his to swipe through the sweaty locks of hair that hung low in front of his eyes. She made a mental note to schedule a haircut for the both of them after he was fully recovered. Wally squeezed her hand, trying to smile but only able to keep the look there for a spilt second before it was wiped away because of another surge of soreness gushing through him.

"L-Like shit. Everythin' . . . i-it . . . 'tuff—s'hurts."

It came out more dismembered than he had wanted the sentence to turn out, words falling over one another and tone slowed. Neither were deaf to the heavy exhales he had to take after each word, the long gulp of oxygen he tried to bring into his lungs after finishing talking.

What Dinah had told her about all of Wally's injuries came back to her in a swift motion; the biggest thing being that since he had accelerated healing it was helping him yet harming him in the process. The biggest injury he had sustained had actually happened in his lungs and as his sped up healing rushed to fixed it, the rate at which his cells were regenerating was too fast for the rest of his body to keep up with which ultimately was causing trouble with Wally's breathing. Dinah had told her that he would be out of breath more easily and for a while, until his cells fixed themselves, he would have to be careful with talking too fast.

If he amped himself up or something like that, the fragile bit of oxygen actually getting into his lungs could collapse he wouldn't be able to breathe.

Artemis smiled lightly at his answer, "Your accelerated healing is working overtime right now so some of your cells are going haywire. Plus they stopped the painkillers and morphine a few hours ago because you just burned right through it in record time. Things are gonna hurt for a while Wally."

He nodded, mind working hard to try and piece together why he was there. It came back to him in a rushed thought—Aeron, mental, not in control, blood, hurt, visions, family, Artemis, Dick, Zatanna, parents, Barry, Ace—then his mind backtracked and he looked to Artemis but she wasn't blind to the guilt now present in his eyes.

A stirring in her stomach told her he remembered inflicting everything to the team.

"A-Ace? I-It—i-is he, s'okay?" Wally questioned franticly, already trying to sit up in bed.

She pushed him back moderately, stopping him from jostling any of his wounds any more than he already had. "He's perfectly fine Baywatch, stop worrying. He's watching Zoom with Jamie and Gar in the living room." Wally's shoulders relaxed and she saw his mouth start to move again but she stopped him before he could speak. "Dick's alright too, he's stuck in bed in the room right next to yours. Zatanna is in there with him, explaining the same things I'm going to explain to you."

A confused look crossed his face as his grip on her hand tightened considerably. "A-Artemis?" He questioned incompletely, not understanding what she meant. She sighed quietly, looking down at her hands for a minute to fully collect her thoughts before looking up at Wally again.

"Do you," she bit her tongue, trying to order her words in the most careful way he could comprehend them, "remember anything Wally?" His eyes went a shade darker, like the color of a dried out forest and she knew he remembered. A part of her almost wished he didn't.

"Yeah," he retorted weakly, "re—remember . . . everythin'."

There was a lot to be explained to him, she knew—she also needed to find out when his memory stopped, where the blank spots started. There was sure to be a lot. "Alright babe, what's the last thing you remember? I know it's painful and I know you don't want to remember but you have to try alright?"

He looked away from her then, eyes closing as he searched for the last thing imprinted in his memory. Artemis counted the seconds that ticked by almost painfully and from her calculations it was a good five minutes and twenty three seconds before his eyes opened again. His hand shook almost unnoticeably in her hold but she solely lifted it mildly to her lips and kissed it. Wally was barely able to tilt his head her way and flash her one of his winning grins before gaining a pained expression again, irises locking on the wires trailing down his chest.

"I . . . 'member explosions. P-Pain, lotta—it. S-Smoke and a-a—arrows. Then hearin' . . . hearing y-you . . . talk—b-breakin' out of his . . . control. B-Blackness . . . after . . . gun—gunshot." He went silent when a sudden foggy memory struck him, mouth slamming shut and body screaming like as if he was going through the same thing again.

 _It was loud._

 _The crack of a gunshot._

 _Loud enough to shatter your eardrums and shake up your insides until they turned to blended mush._

 _All Wally remember was falling to the ground and a headache form in his brain at the feel of Aeron's control slipping out from inside him. Everything around him was blurry and he remembered falling to the ground, hands clutching over someplace—slipping and sliding, not able to keep a hold on the spot in which the blood was leaking from._

 _He passed out screaming, hands groping over his cheeks and muffled voices shouting at him from far away._

"Wally?" One second he was talking and then the next he was dead silent, body shaking in place and hand not moving in her hold. Artemis released his hand and stood up, sitting on the corner of the bed so that she could get as close to him as possible without messing up his IV. She braced two hands on his shoulders, not liking the sound of the heart monitor speeding up next to him and the sound of ragged breathing from him, himself. "Wally."

 _He screamed._

 _He screamed until his throat run raw—he screamed while hands prodded at his body warped by pain, screamed as the doctors restrained his wrists and ankles to stop from thrashing around so much, screamed as someone kept pace at his side when they started pulling the bullet from his skin after barging through the infirmary doors._

 _His body vibrated uncontrollable and the tears left his eyes at such a sloppy rate Artemis thought she was going to break to pieces while standing at his side._

" _Fuck, Artemis," he muttered, hand struggling against the restraint holding it down as he looked for her; looked for any part of her to hold onto. A gasp ripped his insides apart when a needle started threading into his skin, something else burning his ribs. "Artemis," he whimpered, suddenly reduced to a cowering little kid within a matter of seconds._

 _Artemis moved as close as she could to him; gripping his hand, running her hands over his sweaty mounds of hair, listening to the doctors buzzing around him in the background for anything important and wanting to kiss him so badly. "God," he wheezed, "babe—baby where, w-where are you?"_

 _She held in a sob when a loud shriek left him, his whole body arching upwards at the pain._

" _Please, please make it s-stop!" He yelled, her heart breaking in the process as she run her digits down his cheeks as carefully as she could._

" _Baby I can't. I'm so sorry but I can't, you have to get through this for me okay? You can get through his Baywatch."_

 _Then something was pressed into his shoulder on the side opposite Artemis and he shouted again, voice lowering to a undertone as he turned his head to where he thought hers was but didn't actually know since his eyes were squeezed so tightly shut. "Save m-me babe, ma—make it stop Artemis please! Please I'll do anything!"_

" _I'm so sorry Wally. I'm so, so sorry." She murmured quietly, watching his face._

 _And she sat there throughout the entire procedure, holding his hand and listening to all of the agony he went through because he couldn't have any meds to numb it—because his body was on overdrive and would burn through it like wildfire._

 _She sat there and listened to every pleading word, his every whimper, his every gasp._

 _She sat through it all and hoped she was still sane by the end._

He was snapped from the nightmarish vision when lips pressed against his suddenly and then pulled away as he inhaled loudly, belligerent to bring more air into his lungs. Artemis left her hands on his shoulders, watching him prudently as she waited for him to calm down—for the beeping in the background to lower to a stable drone again.

It took around ten minutes for that to happen but she sat with him through it all, her stomach rolling with the sad thought that she believed she knew just exactly what he was freaking out about and when his eyes finally locked with his he was able to utter a single word.

One word that made her understand fully. "S-Sorry."

She chuckled, actually chuckled, and then her fingers found his hair again.

The bleeping in the background was serene once again.

"You have nothing to be sorry for Baywatch . . . I'm sorry I couldn't do anything. You got shot, babe and they rushed you into emergency surgery for that and the brainwashing thing. Oliver was able to make an code red call to the Justice League and half of them came back with a team of top of the line, sworn to secrecy for all of our civilian identities, doctors while the other half used satellites to locate where Aeron was. They were able to subdue him and he is already locked up in that new high tech jail, the one where my dad is, down in Ohio. He's in a padded room with no way out so we are all safe, you're safe."

Wally nodded and made an attempt at cracking a joke before letting Artemis continue, "I-I'll have . . . t-to . . . thank g-g—good old O-Ollie . . . once I . . . 'et outta here." His speech was starting to improve but his ability to breathe had seemed to backtrack as bigger gulps were now taken in-between each of his letters.

She figured that fact was caused by the episode from a few minutes earlier.

Artemis leaned forward to press a nimble kiss to his forehead, smiling. The tone of the room was set when Artemis' face rapidly turned downcast again, eyes holding an empty sadness within.

"They did one surgery after another on you, a double, because of your healing. If they didn't act fast enough nothing was going to heal correctly and your skin would be mauled and never right again. It could've caused life-long problems if they didn't remove it right away. But in return, your body was so worked up that they couldn't give you anything for the pain. Your body would've burned right freaking through it Wally, so you were awake through everything. But I was by your side with it all . . . you passed out fifteen minutes into the second surgery."

She didn't speak of the horrendous graphic he had just had and he was internally grateful that small fact. He relished in it, "Y-You didn't . . . 'ave to."

Artemis rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "I think you will forever be stubborn as hell," she muttered and he smirked, "so the first surgery was just removing the bullet from your side and it was challenging because the bullet had really grazed your lungs. But the doctors got it out and the only thing left over from that is the trouble you have breathing now and the pain from it. The second surgery was removing the blood cells infected with the serum and was a little more problematic but they _did_ it Wally. They got it out. All they had to do was track down and remove the host cells and without the other cells having anything to relate to the rest died out."

Wally laughed, though it threw him into a coughing fit, he laughed happily and reached a hand out to cup his girlfriend's cheek.

"Shit—t-that's g-great A-Art . . . so . . . what t-the hell . . . else is w-wrong—w-with m-me?"

Artemis covered his hand with her own, sighing loudly. "There's a lot Baywatch. You won't be able to do anything by yourself for a few months, which means you're going to have to let me help you out. No walking, no eating anything crazy and no running—not even showering."

She could see his brow crunch and almost see the gears turning in his head like they were right there in front of her, narrowing her eyes as she knew a dirty thought was coming to her boyfriend's mind. She didn't allow him to say anything, ongoing with her list of his injuries.

"You are recovering from a bullet hole in the right side of your chest, low down by the bottom of your ribcage—there are five dissolvable stiches there. I had to shoot an arrow into your right shoulder," he winced at the vivid reminiscence that plagued him, hating that Aeron would've made him hurt his own son if Artemis hadn't stopped him, "but it was clean enough to not cause any real problems. Straight through, you only needed ten stiches. You should have a badass looking hole-like scar once it heals. The right side of your ribcage is severely bruised, lungs damaged but in healing. You'll have a killer headache from the after effect of having the serum removed for a few weeks, five at max according to Black Canary, and your throat might be sore for a few days from being used raw."

Wally took it all in at once, breathing out slowly. His eyes darted back and forth in his sockets and Artemis knew what he was going to ask next. About how everyone else was doing. She decided to start light—to start with telling him about Dick, Zatanna and herself.

"Babe," he croaked, eyes glassing over; "w-what 'bout . . . everyone e-else—I 'member B-Bart . . . hurt?"

Their hands fell from her cheek and she unknowingly started tapping the beat to a song (Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson, Glee version) on the muscle of his arm as she spoke.

"Everyone is either fine or recovering. You and Dick took the brunt of everything, trust me. Dick is recovering from terrible bruising all over his lower abdomen and torso from Kaldur having no choice but to slam a literal wall of water into him. His stomach is slightly messed up from the water inhaled along with his lungs acting funky from the smoke gulped. No cheeseburgers for either of you for a while of course. Multiple severe burns from the explosive used on him from Robin are all over his upper chest, along with a lot of cuts all over. The bullet that was shot at him hit him point blank in the right side of his upper chest but he's recuperating great. Finally he also will have headaches for a while too and Zatanna is gonna help him out. I told her she could stay with us for a while to take care of him."

"G-Good idea . . . b-babe, better hope . . . there isn't . . . a line f-for the . . . toilet or else—I-I'll k-kick . . . Dick's ass."

Artemis scoffed, fingers still tapping an endless beat on his bicep, "In your dreams babe, you trying to fight in this state of yours wouldn't not end well." She paused for a second, letting him laugh before talking again. "Zatanna and I have some minor bruising on our necks from the arrows but Dick's probably gonna get his ass kicked anyway because he cut off like a small little piece of skin from one of Zatanna's fingers with a batarang. It's tiny but she was pissed about it the last time I talked to her so who knows."

She could tell he was only have listening but it wasn't his fault, she knew he was concerned about what had happened to Bart and everyone else. She knew he hated to be involved with this mess of things.

"H-How's Bart doin'?" He whispered, hiding a groan from moving his back slightly with speaking.

"Listen, no one blames you guys for what happened. Everyone knows—"

"Artemis. Please." He cut her off starkly, apology scribbled on his face afterwards.

* * *

the loneliness is setting in

* * *

Artemis didn't want to tell Wally about what had happened to Bart, about how serious it was, about how guilty Dick would feel once Zatanna told him the same thing. Wally wasn't the one who put the explosive on his back (hell Dick wasn't even the one who did that, it was Aeron) but she knew he would feel just as guilty as Dick; if not probably worse.

So she decided to save that certain news for last and go through the rest of the team first.

"You tried to vibrate your fist through the left side of Ollie's ribcage— he lost a _lot_ of blood and will be out of commission for a while, maybe a year, but he will be okay so do not blame yourself or else I will kill you." Wally didn't make a move to comment and Artemis didn't like it. "M'gann has a nasty gash on her shoulder that needed three stiches, Conner was beat up with cuts and burns, Dick broke La'gaan's shoulder in two different places but he had surgery and will be okay, Tim has a nasty looking laceration with some bruising on the back of his neck from Dick hitting him really hard with one of his escrima sticks and Bart . . . "

Wally's eyes could barely meet his girlfriends and it felt like the world was falling away when she spoke the pure truth about what had happened to him. Afterwards Wally couldn't help it and he really tried but he couldn't, he _fucking_ couldn't because his little bro was hurting because of them. Because of them and what they had done to him.

So he let the sobs leave his body in unkempt shouts, beating his fists against his forehead and cheeks turning beat red. Artemis said nothing as she climbed into bed next to him, curling up against his bulky frame and resting her head on the scuffle of his chest; arms wrapped tightly around his waist.

He leaned his head down and cried into her hair but she didn't mind because his arms snaked around her to hold her close and to take pleasure in the fact that Artemis was there for him. That his rock was sitting right there next to him and holding onto him tightly.

After twenty minutes his cries had stopped and quiet hiccups had been moved in its place. She ran her hand up and down his chest in a soothing motion, shushing him.

"He could be completely fine Wally but we won't know for sure until he's well enough to try and walk which will be in a few months like you. He could be okay." It seemed like the world had made a full turn before Wally found it inside himself to answer, to speak so softly that Artemis had to strain her ears to hear him.

"Or he could n-never be . . . o-okay. Artemis . . . he could e-end up paralyzed for life. All because of m-me."

* * *

i have no one to free my sins

* * *

Raphael was not a loser.

At certain times in his life he lost things, important things, but that did not mean he was a loser.

Raphael Peirce Hyades was not ever destined to be a no body.

His father was a deadbeat and his mother died at childbirth so he had a hard upbringing; picking rotten apple cores from the trash, drinking tart water from the well down the street, pickpocketing fancy gold coins from wealthy strangers who happened to pass by, stealing sweaters from stores to keep warm and competing dirty deals from one of his 'friends' so that he could have a roof over his head some nights when it was pouring buckets of rain or blankets of snow.

After living through something so horrid, he was damn sure to make sure that when he found his true love and started a family—that they wouldn't go through the same thing he had to do. He would do his best to stay fit and healthy, try his hardest to make sure any children his wife and him had their mouths full of steaming hot turkey and smooth gravy.

He did it though.

He did it all; found a wife and had a little baby boy. Then his wife got pregnant with a second kid, a little active baby girl, and he believed their lives would be a happy ending once she had her.

But that never happened because of Aeron and because of the fire.

And now his son was locked up and his tormenters free.

* * *

it's hard for me to see you this way

* * *

He didn't agree with what his son did. Of what all he did to all of those people (every single damn spot where the different bodies had been buried were burned in his memory, he could point the places out blindfolded even with the sickening amount of people he went through).

In fact, he had stopped visiting his son when Aeron had injected the two men with the ugly thing he called 'a cure'.

That was his breaking point, that's when he couldn't take being a part of any of it anymore. But now, as the story mocked him from every news channel in the country, his son was gone. Aeron had always been a strange boy (and a part of his thinks that is why he had wanted that little girl so badly, wanted her to live through life so badly) but four years of unspeakable _illegal_ things?

But his son was gone!

How could that not drive somebody crazy?

Aeron was his irrational home, his light in the darkness and those two men (Bird Boy and Flash Kid) got him captured.

* * *

losing all your sanity

* * *

He needed to find revenge. He needed to show his son that he was his everything; that he was worth more than what the world labeled him as. He needed to bring those two men to justice, needed to bring them to their knees so that they were begging to live just as his son had done in past lifetimes.

 _Daddy! Daddy! Come play with me!_

"Not now sweetie, Daddy has to go and start planning for something." The man muttered to no one in particular, considering the coffee shop he was sitting in was empty besides himself. "Go and play with your mother for now Angel."

 _Mommy hasn't been around in a while, ever since she said she was going to visit Ronnie._

The man grunted, shaking his head as his fingers twitched. "Shame," he growled. What was he doing? His son was a monster. He should've been working on pulling Eva from his cold, dead hands.

 _Can I help you with your plans Daddy?_

The a smirk curled over his features as he reached down a grabbed his journal from the suitcase next to him, uncapping a purple ink pen and cracking his fingers. "Of course dear, you can help me plan for something to happen in these months to come."

 _Can there be dinosaurs in your plans? I have a whole collection we could use!_

Raphael chuckled lowly, visions of mangled bodies meeting the back of his eyelids. What a colorful collection of dinosaurs with vibrant colors of pink, red, blue, green and yellow.

"We are going to make them pay sweetie. For everything."


	9. nine

**_This_** **chapter contains:**

Spoilers: Season 1 and Season 2

Random Lyrics from: Burn by Papa Roach

Pairings: Spitfire and Chalant

 _Important_ Extra Notes: I was going to post this yesterday I swear and then Black Ops III came out . . . any gamers out there will understand my distraction! XD There is a big foreshadowing twist in this chapter which if you pick up on, let me know in the reviews. I was originally not going to include it but in the end, I'm a sucker for happy endings even with a story like this one. So chapter ten will be the final chapter and then I believe I will do ten bonus chapters which will be one-shots (not 10,000 words but probably 3,000 words and up) taking place in the _Whispers in the Night_ universe. So that would mean this story will end up with twenty chapters I think. Also, I've posted a new spitfire story called _Heal these Wounds_ —please feel free to go and check it out if you haven't already and let me know what you think! :)

 _This_ chapter is **rated teen for** a suggestive themes, romance pieces, violence, language and slight graphic/gory matter at the end of this chapter—please keep that in mind.

* * *

NOTE: For Barry's birthday date I went off of the comics. Then for his actual age I went off the age that he was 40 from Young Justice so that would ultimately mean he was 44 when he died in this story; just to clear up any confusion.

NOTE #2: I would like to say a shout out and little disclaimer here. I read _it's such a shame for us to part_ by _robinwars_ a few days ago and the way it was written just was really good and the emotions were so on point so I put in a little scene that is a twist on their original writing—just not nearly as heart-jerking.

So a shout out to _robinwars_ —that story was truly great!

Anyway, _disclaimer:_ when you come across that little scene and think 'hey I've seen that before', that is most likely because it is just a twist on _robinwars'_ work. I don't own that idea of course, all of that credit goes to the amazing original author!

* * *

lying, cheating, so deceiving

* * *

 **FOUR MONTHS LATER**

* * *

Bart wasn't okay.

The day where everyone gathered around to see if he could walk, Wally on one side of him and Jamie on the other, it didn't go as planned. Bart went to stand up but faltered hallway through, crashing into Wally's side with the full weight of his body.

Then he had muttered the five words that caused Wally's world to once again crash around him.

"I can't feel my legs," he had muttered it so low even Jamie had trouble hearing it from where he clutched at the young speedster's other arm.

"What?" The teenager had demanded, eyes narrowed and Wally too flabbergasted to put together any words.

Dick and Artemis saw the fear, felt it, and ushered everyone out of the room quickly; knowing Bart would want some space. Zatanna stood at Dick's side, his body leaning slightly into hers from having been standing so long. Everyone had recovered pretty well since getting injured (the only person still having trouble was Oliver—his only problem was that he was pissed he was still stuck in an hospital bed in Star City with Dinah and Clark to watch over him).

Zatanna and Artemis were fully recovered; the former did in fact rip Dick a new one with the fact that her finger was now missing some skin but the acrobat had fixed it with some cheesy pick-up lines and cliché kisses.

Wally was doing great, his lungs were nearly healed and the only issue he still had was the fact that if he ran too fast in super speed his shoulder would start to burn and his lung start to not function correctly but besides that he was fine.

Dick was healing slower but doing well, his only issue was that he couldn't do too much exercise in a prolonged period of time; after a while he would need to take a break or sit down. But he was stubborn and working through it.

Bart sent Jamie a steely glare, "I said I can't feel my legs," he grit out, anger sprouting over his features. Wally looked to his girlfriend whose facial expression didn't offer him any comfort as he turned back around and helped Jamie place Bart back under the covers of the infirmary's hospital bed. Jamie let go of Bart as soon as his body was covered back up, his mouth twisted downwards in an illegible frown.

"What in the hell are you talking about? The doctors said you would be perfectly fine—"

"They said there was a _possibility_ that I would be perfectly fine Jamie, but they also said there was a chance I would never be able to walk again."

Bart cut his best friend off with a threatening whisper, one that screamed volumes of indignant feelings. Dick seemed to shrink next to Zatanna, the latter turning and nuzzling her face into his neck to murmur some words of reassurance to him. Artemis sighed from her spot next to the two, taking a step forward to rest a hand on Wally's shoulder. He was back sitting down in the chair pulled up next to Bart's bedside, Jamie standing on the other side of his bed with his arms crossed furiously.

"You must be on too many painkillers, your mind is probably just screwed up I mean the doctors said you would be _fine_."

Artemis was starting to believe that pigheadedness ran in the blood of every male member of the Young Justice Team. But she could understand where Jamie was coming from; he didn't want to come to terms with the fact that now it was highly unlikely that his best friend, a speedster none the less, wouldn't be able to walk again.

"I said I can't feel my legs Jamie! How could that be because of morphine? They are numb right now, I can't feel anything!" Bart's shout startled Wally, whose hand accidently fell onto Bart's right leg.

Jamie shook his head as Bart stared daggers at the older speedster. "This isn't happening," he muttered, squeezing his eyes shut and running a hurried hand through his black locks. Bart chuckled bitterly from his spot in bed, glancing at Jamie first and then Wally. It unnerved the adults in the room, how unlike himself the bedridden teenager seemed.

"Well it is. Wally, get your hand off my leg I just told you I can't feel anything!"

He quickly did as he was told, trying his best to hide his shaking fingers from view. "S-Sorry."

It was a lame thing to say but what else could he say? Bart couldn't feel his legs! Was there any plus side to that? Jamie whirled around to face Dick who was in his civvies, classic shades thrown carelessly over his eyes.

"This is all your fault! If you two hadn't come back while still under freaking mind control Bart wouldn't be paralyzed!" Dick said nothing and Zatanna took it upon herself to stand up for him. She knew Jamie was mad but it was no excuse to come after Dick. He wasn't in control of their own actions.

"Jamie, you know they had no control over what they did. They remember every moment of it and feel horrible about it."

Jamie fired back a speedy jab, Artemis joining in to come to her friend's aid as Wally stared helplessly at Bart's covered legs.

Without thought his hands started vibrating from the anger surging through his veins, a soft humming entering the room. Bart watched Jamie fight with Artemis and Zatanna with saddened eyes, seeing Dick flinch nonchalantly at each insult slung his way. But as Wally looked back and forth between his hands and Bart's sheltered legs, he suddenly got a really _stupid_ idea that might just work in bringing feeling back into Bart's legs.

He moved his vibrating hands forward, brow scrunching as he tried to remember where exactly the most powerful spots of the leg were. Uncle Barry had told him a while ago, back when Wally was still learning how to use his powers, figuring that since his nephew was a scientist—if he made Wally think like one there would be less chance of him crashing and burning often.

With a unobtrusive moment of triumph a few minutes later and the bickering between the three people behind him only growing louder, Wally braced his hands in the certain spots on Bart's legs; vibrating his hands wildly. Bart looked at Wally crazily, opening his mouth to reject to whatever the hell his older bro was doing but closing it just as fast as warmth spread quickly through his chilled legs.

He could feel.

He could feel!

The numbed feeling slowly disappeared and was replaced by a slushing warmth, one that engulfed his veins and rushed through his bones. Wally looked up from his hands to Bart's face, the latter grinning thankfully.

"W-Wally, i-it's working." He muttered, just barely loud enough for Wally to hear him. In return the older man chuckled, grabbing the attention of Jamie and the rest of the adults in the room.

"What the h—"

Before Jamie could finish, Wally was stopping and in a matter of seconds Bart was up and moving; darting to the left and zooming to the right. His laughter was infectious as he raced around the room; flicking Jamie in the face, tugging on Artemis' hair, patting Dick's shoulder and finally, hugging Wally.

He gasped at the sudden feeling of a frail body attached to his, wrapping his arms around the younger boy tightly. "Thank you," Bart murmured, Wally smiling as he pressed his face into his shoulder.

"Of course kiddo. I'll never let you down."

Both ignored the fact of how similar Wally's words were to that of something that Barry would've said.

* * *

i trusted you, broke me down

* * *

Dick disappears a few hours after Bart runs laps around Mount Justice, the cool spring April air fanning over his face with scents of blooming daisies and freshly mown grass, Zatanna searching everywhere until finally giving up and heading back to her room in the cave.

She's shocked when she pushes the door open and sees Dick laying down on her bed, unmasked eyes in a blank stare towards the ceiling. Saying nothing she enters the room and closes the door behind her, advancing towards the bedside. "Boy Wonder?" She whispers in question, Dick snorting quietly.

"I think I'm too old to be called that Zee."

Zatanna rolls her eyes as she climbs into bed beside him, his arm automatically wrapping around her lower waist as she rests her head on his chest. She subconsciously curls close into his side, feeling at home with the warmth coming from him. "If Artemis still calls Wally 'Baywatch' then I think I'm still allowed to call you 'Boy Wonder'. It's our thing Dick."

He goes uncharacteristically silent for a minute, Zatanna taking his calloused hand and playing with his fingers in waiting. She knows something serious is on his mind if he was so easily lost in thought. "How many things were Barry's?"

Zatanna sighs heavily, the topic at hand touchy.

Artemis had filled in Zatanna on everything she had missed, including how Bruce and Barry really died, about a month in from everyone's recovery. After hearing about it she didn't leave Dick's side for two whole days before he couldn't take not knowing anymore and demanded for her to tell him what was wrong.

All she said at the time was something along the lines of 'I'm sorry you had to go through that' before she had just cuddled into his side for that night. Zatanna knows logically that Dick and Wally hadn't had any time to actually grieve—but how _do_ you grieve about such a thing?

She couldn't fathom watching her father's life drain out of his eyes at her expense, watch his blood coat the floor as she shot the bullet that killed him or choked the energy out of him.

Frankly, she was surprised Dick and Wally were still . . . alive.

It sounded harsh but it was a truth; how were they living with such an agonizing thing burdened on their shoulders all the time? Then to have to stand by idle and wait to see if someone they loved like a brother could walk again, to stand by and watch as Oliver still squirmed in pain whenever he jostled his ribs too badly and not be able to do anything about it?

All Zatanna knew for sure was the datum that if she had to go through something so melancholic on her own; she wouldn't be able to make it.

She was damn glad Dick was still holding on because she, as long as it took her to realize it, couldn't make it through life without him by her side.

"Dick," she spoke softly, gently, "what Wally and you had to do wasn't right. It was horrible, I understand that. But for you to move on . . . you have to let it go." She didn't have to look up at him to know what his eyes were probably wet with unshed tears because his voice said it all. It was hoarse in the beginning and cracking by the end.

"I was standing in front of him with a gun to his face. A man I idolized, respected and loved. A man who I looked to as a _real_ father. As my father. I was begging when I was standing there . . . blubbering on about Aeron and what he was making me do. Bruce just . . . just he let me talk. He stood there and listened, listened to my stupid reasoning's he had no _reason_ to believe. I could have been a Cadmus clone or something but he didn't for one second doubt that it was me so he stood there and listened to all that I had to say."

Zatanna fumbled with his thumb, tracing over a faint pink scar that had been there for the past six years.

He had told her he had gotten it from nearly dying one time when he was Robin; Bats and he were fighting a bunch of crooks on a rooftop and one had got the upper hand on him, throwing him off the edge. Dick wasn't worried at the time, thinking he had a spare grappling hook (because his had gotten destroyed during battle) but he didn't.

But Bats had heard the snap and the shout, knocking out three thugs with one hit and launching himself towards the boy; catching him before he could fall to his death. Dick had told Zatanna he would never forget the pure look of fear through Bruce's cowl, the thought stayed fresh on his mentor's face for the upcoming three weeks—that he had nearly lost the kid he cared for like a son so carelessly.

He said he always traced over the scar when he was feeling self-conscious or something close to it, as it reminded him that he was still a living, breathing human being.

"That's because he loved you Dick. Bruce loved you and he understood what you had to do." Dick shakes his head slightly, breath shuddering as he inhaled.

"I was so scared that I started speaking Romani halfway through, begged him to help me in the only language we both understood and shared. I think . . . he knew it was grim because I haven't spoken Romani since I was eleven. It's a lost language mostly, bits and pieces of Romanian and Gypsy crap. It always changes and for him to have been keeping up with it, to know what I was saying at the time . . . Zee," he pauses, biting his lip, "that met he always thought I would come back. That he never forgot about me and . . . and that's what hurts the most."

Zatanna finally gains the courage to look at him.

So she angles her face towards his so she can see what he looks like and what stares back at her is just a devastated thirteen year old little boy—a little baby Robin with its wings clipped. Dick's eyes are rimmed red with a glassy hue, blue irises nearly a darkened purple from the pain he feels, cheeks sullen, chin quivering in trying to hold in the sobs he so frantically wants to let out, black hair swept back sloppily and a green bruise on his forehead standing out among everything else.

He sniffled and Zatanna let out a watery chuckle, feeling choked up herself at how shattered he looked. "Oh Dick," she murmured, reaching up and brushing back a wild strain of his hair, "what did he do to you?"

That's all it takes for the dam to be broken and for the man to start outright sobbing; Zatanna shushing him and pulling him closer in her arms. And as he cries, she can hear one sentence repeated through it all that just rips apart her heart so much she isn't quite sure she can take it.

"Zee, it feels like the serum never left. I can still feel it in me, moving around a-and—it's still f-freaking there!"

She sits there and holds him, wishing there was something more she could do to make him feel normal again.

* * *

and you screwed me over

* * *

"Wally?"

He looks up from glaring at his souvenir shelf, seeing Artemis entering his old cave bedroom. It had been cleaned out years ago so it was nearly spotless; a complete one-eighty from Wally's messy personality. He has a gut feeling that either M'gann or Bart had been taking care of the room, making sure it was never too disordered or too clean.

The bed is perfectly made with pale white sheets and a yellow pillow (something Wally has the feeling Bart was too guilty to change because everyone knew Barry had given Wally that pillowcase after the Young Justice Team's very first successful mission).

The walls are stripped of the posters that used to hang there (a Flash Central City Celebration Day one Wally had nabbed from Barry's basement, Call of Duty Black Ops II Zombies exclusive pre-order poster from back before the game was released, AC/DC band 'rock n' roll' poster and finally a nerdy photograph that showed the full equation of pi that Dick had gotten for him for his fourteenth birthday) but unknown to Wally Bart had taken all of his posters and hung them in his room after he had 'died', just to have something to remind him of the red head.

It's almost stuffy in the room but besides it being unvarnished to the core, the one thing that remained the same was the wall of souvenirs that were polished and up kept to near perfect conditions over the years.

Wally figures Barry might've snuck in time to time and cleaned it up using one of Aunt Iris' 'badass cleaning rags' (her fancy name for what was a Magic Eraser).

The thought of his deceased uncle sends chills down Wally's spine. They had held two separate funerals for the two undercover heroes two months after the battle in the cave; Bruce was buried in Gotham while Barry was put to rest in Central City.

Dick showed at both funerals out of stultified respect.

Wally didn't show at neither.

Artemis walks up next to Wally, who stands in front of the shelve with his arms crossed and eyes lost in a different place, touching his shoulder lightly. He barely turns his head. "What are you doing Baywatch?"

The corner of his lips morph into a small smile, "Just checking out my souvenirs babe, why?"

Artemis sighs, moving so that she is standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. "I meant, what are _you_ doing to yourself Wally?" He feels silly, thinking she wouldn't have seen through his lie. She knows him better than that. He shakes his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I'm fine babe," he replies jaggedly, trying to wave off the manner. Artemis doesn't look amused by his attempt of telling her to 'just forget about it'.

"Is this about Barry?"

He's caught off-guard by the direct nature of her tone but at the same time he isn't surprised—this was Artemis he was talking about.

"Uncle Barry? What, no, no I haven't thought about that in forever. I'm," his voice unexpectedly catches and she locks eyes with him. Wally decides to give up his façade as he reaches his hands up and swipes at his eyes. "Yeah. It's about Barry."

Artemis moves closer to him, "Talk to me Baywatch, what's the matter?"

He exhales sinfully, chewing on the inside of his cheek because he doesn't know what to say.

How to say it.

"I . . . I mean I haven't really grieved about it you know? I skipped Bruce and Barry's funerals yeah, but that was because I felt too guilty to even set foot anywhere near their bodies. I mean, how can you say goodbye to someone who _watched_ you kill them? My parents screamed at me for missing Uncle Barry's funeral last month, after keeping all of their emotions bottled up so long about _everything_ , they just let it all out. 'We never wanted you to be a superhero,' or 'you're better off dead than off running around the world because _that's_ safer for you,' and 'do you understand what you've put us through Wallace?'. Just . . . all this shit I didn't want to hear. They, they don't know I killed him. They don't know how much it kills me every day, having to see Central City unable to connect the dots of why the Flash is suddenly cockier and slightly slower."

The first thing Wally did after recovering was take over the mantel of 'the Flash' in Central City. It was his name now—he wasn't Kid Flash, he was Flash. He didn't want to leave Iris to the fire of the city figuring out that Barry Allen was the Flash and now that he died the Flash had died with him, so he had changed his suit to match his uncle's and sped around the city; stopping the same crimes he had been stopping since he was younger.

Wally was never as fast as the Flash or Impulse; the explosion he had caused when he was a teenager had only given him the jest of the powers. How fast he was now was from years upon years of running, he had grown and done it all by himself . . . and through the help of Barry.

So yeah—now the Flash was brasher in front of the cameras, body slightly more muscular and skinner (as that's how Wally had been built all his life), he didn't flirt with Iris as much as used to on live camera after she would report a huge crime he had just stopped and he never stayed in the light too long; he would stop a crime and then disappear in a flash.

Artemis knew juggling two lives was becoming a huge struggle for Wally, as the world had no idea the original Flash had died, but she was helping him through it. He had stayed over with Iris in Central City for a few days five weeks ago and when he had come back to Artemis; he had collapsed in her arms saying over and over again how horrible he felt.

That was as close to grieving as she had seen Wally so this, what he was doing right now, was sadly overdue.

"Wally," He doesn't let her finish, green eyes closing as he starts speaking again.

"Every day I see his face Art, in everything I do. I see his face in Bart, I see his joy in Garfield, I see his kindness in M'gann, I see his muted hate for the damned villains in this world in Dick, I see his love in you and I see his attitude in me. I can't escape the feeling that he hates me for everything I've done. For what Iris is going through, for what Bart is going through. He hates me Artemis, and I'm so damn _sure_ of it."

She takes his hands in hers and moves close, his forehead resting on hers. A lone tear slips down his cheek and she wonders just how many times he had cried himself to sleep over the blame so clearly eating him alive.

"Listen to me Wally, your uncle could never hate you. He loved you with everything he had, he took care of you your entire life. Iris and Barry took you in when your father was acting crazy or when your mother was too busy on business calls to make you dinner. He loved you Wally, you and only you." She moves forwards and brushes her lips over his, moving back again and feeling his hands heavy in hers. "He loved you Wally. I know he did."

Wally closes his eyes again, "He loved me?"

His voice was equal to that of a little kid's, one asking his parents for reassurance that there were no monsters in the closet.

Artemis smiled. "He loved you Baywatch. Always."

* * *

i'll be ignited

* * *

It's not long before Dick is able to stop his crying, Zatanna holding him tight the entire time, and he scoffs at himself afterwards. "Sorry, I'm acting like a big idiot. Got your shirt all soaked." Zatanna swatted at him, the latter chuckling.

"Crying doesn't mean you're weak or some shit Grayson, it just means you've been strong enough to hold it in all this time."

Dick grunted in mock agreement, abruptly lifting Zatanna up with his arms and rolling her over so she was straddling him around his lower waist. She sent him a strict glare, his hands holding tight onto her abdomen so that she wouldn't lose balance and topple off the side of the bed. "I've got to say though, that breakdown might've worked to my advantage. You see, your shirt is awfully see-through . . . "

He allowed his sentence to trail off as Zatanna looked down at herself, seeing with her own two eyes that her white shirt was in fact see-through—grabbing Dick's undivided attention. She looked back to him, a smirk staining his lips.

"You know how to ruin a moment better than Wally."

He laughed brazenly, cheeks flashing pink. "I really, _really_ hope you aren't thinking of KF right now because that would be such a turn off."

Zatanna groaned, leaning down and pecking him full on the lips. She pulled back swiftly afterwards, knowing it would leave him wanting more. "You're always on my mind Boy Wonder, no one else but you. Don't be getting jealous now," He missed this, their constant banter that sliced through any sexual tension both were feeling. It all flowed just right, flawlessly. It was them.

His hands slipped under her shirt, trailing up the lenient skin of her back.

"Right, jealous? Me? Please." Zatanna smiled, her hands resting on his stomach after having been running through his messed up hair.

"Whelming bod you got now Dick," she pondered playfully, knowing that using one of his made-up-words from his childhood would brighten up his mood a lot. It was one of the traits Dick personally loved about Zatanna; to anyone that didn't know her as well as he did, she might've seemed stuck up. But she everything but that—she put everyone else before herself and made it her business to get into all of the things her friends, generally Dick, were into to be fair.

He grinned at her, her hands toying with the hem of his tee shirt. He went to say a frisky comeback but decided against it, something else and far more important coming to mind. "Zee, will you be my girlfriend?"

He can see the shock cross her face then the understanding and finally—the pure pleasure.

"Hell yes Grayson, I've been waiting for you to say that since forever."

She leans down to bring him into a heated kiss which only lasts for a second before Dick is gently pushing her away and she knows that the smug look on his features is a sign for an utterly maddening taunt to come.

"By the way, I think the word you're looking for is _overwhelming_. My body is overwhelming."

She has half a mind to slap him. "Shut up Grayson."

Then their lips are attached again before Dick can come up with anything else to say.

* * *

you turn me inside out

* * *

Dick had silently taken off after Zatanna and his 'reunion'. She had fallen asleep afterwards, content in his bare arms, and he had waited two hours before not being able to stand it anymore. It felt like something was moving under his skin, like a million different things were poking and screaming.

So with a careful hand and gentle movements he had slipped out from under the blankets, making sure his girlfriend (he could call her that now and he deemed it the best thing in the world) was wrapped tight by the warm blankets before leaning down and pressing a tender kiss to her forehead and taking off.

He was vigilant as he found his clothes around the room and grabbed his grapple gun for quick travel before leaving and making his way out of the cave though the zeta beam. He had winced as it had read out his name in a loud, firm voice; wondering how in the hell it didn't awake anyone nearby. He emerged in an abandoned alleyway filled with trash and stray cats, nose scrunching up at the musky smell that was Star City's dumpsters.

Dick was able to flout the smell and grapple to the roof, making his way across the many rooftops to where his destination rested in the outskirts of the city; the acrobat landing delicately on the ground in a hidden spot out of the view of any wandering guards. Then he approached the heavily guarded metal gate, grabbing his black sunglasses out of his pocket and placing on his face to hide his eyes.

"Hey, who goes there?" Dick scoffed under his breath, silently sniggering at the fact that he was able to make it close enough to the metal gate to touch it before one of the guards finally noticed him. He stopped walking, holding his hands up in peace as the man on the other side of the gate raised his gun so that the flashlight attachment glared in Dick's face.

His heart thumped rapidly in what Dick was going to do next and it killed him inside that this was the only way he could go about such a thing.

But he couldn't risk anyone finding out he was there and after spending undivided hours fanning through Bruce's notes on the new place, he knew that sneaking in and sneaking out wasn't a possibility—that he would have to go in and visit.

The only good news that Dick had found was the fact that any of the League's members were allowed any access to the building and if Dick said the right things and precise codes he would be allowed in with no further questions. It was easy . . . but that didn't lessen the feel of a weight weighing down on his chest.

"No need to shoot me. I'm Jason Todd."

The man didn't lower his gun, walkie-talkie crackling with static from his shoulder as he was sure his 'name' was being input into the database. Dick wasn't worried, he had forged a bunch of fake files on a private server that would allow him in.

The next minute passed in slow, unbreakable tension until the walkie-talkie crunched with sound again.

"Approved."

The man with the gun didn't show that he was entirely convinced even as the gate in front of them slowly started to creak open, Dick leaving his hands up as he stepped back. Even after Dick was on the other side of the gate, the man with the gun didn't show any signs of lowering the weapon. Dick had to keep himself from rolling his eyes as he saw the name Maroon glint off his gold nametag in the moonlight.

"I'm not any threat Maroon,"

"I don't trust that." Dick was impressed at how sturdy Maroon's voice was, how gritty.

"I know the League. Says it right there in my file."

"Still don't trust you."

The younger man couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh, one that echoed oddly into the night. It was already bad enough he had to use the name of his dead brother (who might've been alive because he still couldn't shake the thought of the masked man who had saved him) and now this man, Maroon, was just pushing his buttons.

They stared walking down the gravel path, the sound of rocks crunching under their shoes the only other sound in the night until Dick decided to break that silence. It was annoying having the nose of an assault rifle shoved into his back.

"Ask me some security questions then. I know you have specific riddles for each of the Leaguers. I can promise that I know the answers to all of them." The feel of the cool iron slightly lessened and Dick could tell Maroon was busy having an inner war with himself. The thought made Dick chuckle again—trust was too fragile of a thing these days.

"Loss of one thing is the gain of another's."

"Doctor Fate. Code W-E-S-T."

"Mind as sharp—"

"—as an arrow. Green Arrow, code S-P-E-E-D-Y."

"Blue has never been a better color."

"Superman, code K-E-N-T."

"Never late."

"Flash, code I-R-I-S."

"Hero of the knight."

"Batman. Code . . . R-O-B-I-N-S."

They fired question and answer at one another, until the final code left Dick's lips and he felt drained of all energy. Maroon didn't say anything else after the kid in front of him had just listed each code for each Leaguer, finishing with the Dark Knight's.

"Believe me now?" Dick's tone is chipped as they approached the front entrance to the building, Maroon removing the gun from his back and keeping his eyes on the unlocked door.

"Yeah."

The conversation ends there and the lump in Dick's throat only tightens, making him feel like he's losing it. He was at the new prison that had finished being built only a few years before and it was made only for the worst criminals in the world. So far it had ten applicants. Two of them being ghouls from Dick's past—Sportsmaster and Aeron.

He just had to see Aeron and demand an answer for what was crawling around in his bloodstream, he _had_ to know. He wasn't scared of anything—it was the most secure place on the planet excluding the idiotic guards who couldn't see someone standing directly in front of them. Dick exhaled, finally knowing what the pain he felt deep inside was from. Midnight Correctional was a prison you couldn't break out of; a thing with no emotions, just stone cold walls.

But the specialized codes and the people they corresponded with weren't.

They were living beings with feelings. When Dick was staying up all night memorizing the codes, he also understood each one on a personal level—why that certain League member picked it.

Doctor Fate's code was West because deep inside he never forgot about Kurt Nelson, never forgot about Wally and the fire that burned brightly within and the promise.

Speedy was Green Arrow's code as a reminder to never stop searching and to never stop believing.

Superman's code was Kent because it was the last name he shared with Conner, with his _son_.

Flash's code was his everything, his life beyond the speed force and being a superhero—because Iris was his home.

Robins, Batman's code, was a memoir for every sidekick— _every_ son—that he had, that he has.

They didn't have to worry about real names being connected through any name ID's because no one in the prison cared so in a way a part of each of their hearts were placed in too bitter of a place. Maroon is the guard to lead Dick through a confusing maze of a million doors and his heart leaps in sullen fear when he pulls back ten locks to allow Dick entrance to Aeron's padded room.

"Five minutes."

"Thanks." Dick enters the room slowly and the sound of the door closing behind him is too loud in his ears.

Aeron is seated in the far corner, back facing him. "Can I leave yet Boogey? The food here is atrocious." The taunting manner in which Aeron speaks makes Dick realize that he doesn't know who's in the room with him, the older man not thinking of anything more than his regular guard coming in and dropping off his mush for the day. "Cat got your tongue Boo? Actually no, you don't know what that feels like. I'll have to tell Angel to visit sometime."

Dick swallows, finally gathering the valor to speak. "What did you turn me into?"

Aeron doesn't turn his head, instead laughing lowly. "Ah, Richard. It's been a long time my boy! Killed anyone new recently?" Dick knows the older man is smirking and knows he is just trying to fry his nerves so he pushes past the mocking and asks again.

"I'm not here to talk. I'm here for one answer."

"What I turned you into? Well let's see, that's a long list son—"

"Don't call me that!" Dick's voice rises to a harsh shout, rimmed with hate and hallowed with long-dried-out-tears. Aeron grins at the white wall in front of him.

"How's Wallace doing? I must congratulate you two, you both did outstanding with Allen and Wayne. Things went better than I thought they would."

"What. Did. You. Turn. Me. Into."

The silence is too quiet after five minutes and just as Dick goes to voice his mind Aeron turns his head and the mangled leer sitting there is enough to drive Dick mad. "I turned you into me, son."

"I will _never_ be you."

Then Dick turns to leave, banging on the door three times as a signal to Maroon who doesn't waste time in swinging the door open. "You good?" He questions and Dick would be damned if he actually heard care laced under the older man's words.

"Yeah, get me the hell out of here."

Maroon nods and Dick leaves the room, both hesitating when cleft laughter comes from where Aeron sits. "You already are me son, that feeling of a million things squirming under your skin? That's withdrawal and unless you get another serum in you soon, you'll feel that for the rest of your life. Don't you know my boy? That's what I feel every day, the only difference is that mine isn't artificial. Mine is unending, something I can never escape from. So tell me, _hero_ of the night, what will you do? Live with the feeling of a trillion insects under your skin or recreate the cure?"

Maroon looks from Aeron's back to Dick's face uneasily, brown eyes failing at hiding the anxious look within. Dick barely glances at Maroon, instead exiting the room so that he can close the door behind him.

"I'll survive," he muttered to himself as Maroon said nothing as he directed Dick back down the labyrinth of hallways to the front gate.

* * *

my world is upside down

* * *

It's too icy.

Too unresponsive.

Those are the first thoughts that enter Wally's mind after he runs to Central City, stopping inches away from his uncle's gravestone. His black jeans are sizzling slightly from the sheer fast rate of which Wally had ran without his suit, and truthfully he thought it was a miracle that his 'Nerds Get All the Girls' tee-shirt hadn't caught fire.

It was midday, the sun impetuous above and white fluffy clouds strewn throughout the glossy sky.

After his confession to Artemis the night before, he had decided it was time to face the demon on his shoulder—time to face the fact that his uncle was in fact dead and _not_ coming back like in some tacky movie. Wally can only stare at the pastel stone, knowing that even though he went there to talk to Barry he just couldn't grasp the words lost in his throat.

Did he mention it was too cold of a place for his uncle to be buried?

 **Bartholomew Henry Allen**

 _ **Back in a flash, always.**_

 **March 19th, 1976—December 11th, 2020**

It's too bland for Uncle Barry, Wally finally thinks, inhaling the tainted air around him.

He suddenly wishes that his uncle's death was faked like theirs (Dick and his graves were removed now, barren spots in a yard of rotten bones) that Barry was just at home with Iris trying out his skills in baking. That he was watching old re-runs of Mythbusters in the living room, muttering remarks under his breath about how he had already figured out a million better way for how to determine that certain myth was false.

Or out in the front yard of the West-Allen residence, mowing the grass with a bare top half that would still cause Iris to blush; Wally hiding his laughter with a faked cough every time a pretty lady jogging down the street would stop to chat with Barry while Iris glowered daggers into that lady's back and fumed silently.

Hell, Wally would give anything to have Barry's collected voice speaking into his ear com steadily as they played a superhero version of the game 'Would You Rather?' while fighting a no-name criminal out on the street.

Wally could still remember the best rounds they had ever had, it had happened back a few years, he was fifteen at the time and the original Young Justice Team had only been assembled for two weeks. The two speedsters were zigzagging around a petrified scrawny kid who had stolen a couple grand from the bank, chatting away casually through the ear comm.

"Would you rather live with Aquaman and the fish or Green Arrow and the arrows?" Barry questioned, hearing his nephew scoff over the line.

"Green Arrow. He might be scarier but you guys are like, best friends so he would take it easy on me. Would you rather piss off Batman or fight against Superman?" The older man actually stopped running to send Wally a horrified glance.

"I'd rather get my ass kicked by Superman! What kind of question is that? First rule of the League, _never_ piss off Bats because you will disappear off the planet or end up ten feet underground someplace."

Wally came to a screeching stop opposite his uncle, the two caging in the fearful teenager. "That's just urban legend, Bats wouldn't actually do any of that."

Barry raised an eyebrow, "You sure about that Kid?"

Wally debated the manner in his head as Barry easily sped towards the teen between them, pushing him to the ground and clicking handcuffs in place before grabbing the backpack full of money. "Well I was, until you told me otherwise."

The backpack landed on the gravel in front of Wally with a soft thump, Barry letting out a loud laugh, Wally knew there was a content twinkle in his uncle's eyes from behind the cowl. His gloved hand came to rest on his nephew's shoulder, "Just don't piss him off by doing something stupid when he assigns you guys' missions. I promise I'll always protect you Kid but if Bats comes after you, you can count me out."

Wally rolled his eyes as the sound of approaching sirens grew closer, "Geez, thanks Flash." His uncle's laughter had rang in his ears as they darted away before the police arrived, onto the next city crime scene.

It took a few extra seconds for Wally to snap himself out of the happy memory, reminding himself of where he was and what he was supposed to be doing. So with a labored breath he placed a hand on Barry's gravestone, squeezing his eyes shut. He had to do this if he wanted to move on. It was the only way.

"Hey Barry," his voice cracked and he wanted to curse himself out already, for being so weak but he powered through anyway, "um, I just wanted to talk to you for a bit. Listen, I'm sorry I didn't come to your funeral. That was, that was wrong of me. Mom and Dad gave me hell for it you know?" Wally let out a sullen chortle, tears pricking at the back of his eyes already. "No need to come back and haunt me. Though I don't know, Iris really misses you—I think you should pay her a visit. Don't scare her or anything, just like hug her or something. She misses you a lot Uncle Barry. Bart too."

A breeze of wind floated by, leaf rustling and cool air hitting Wally's face gently.

He just wanted Uncle Barry back.

"I guess we both know that's not what I came here to really talk about. I'm sorry Barry, just God, I'm sorry. I always thought you would live _forever_ , not that you would die from my own hands. I feel so guilty, I feel like you hate me. Artemis has told me otherwise but how can I believe otherwise without you here?"

Another gust of wind followed, "Do you understand Barry? Do you forgive me? Do you love me still, after all the shit I've done to you?"

He finds himself on his knees in front of the gravestone, eyes burning a hole into the carved words of 'flash'.

"I never planned any of this to happen. Getting kidnapped and then coming back to kill you and finding out I had a kid. Artemis tells me you and Bruce always kept a close eye on her and helped her out, so thank you for that. But I don't want you to be dead. I want you to be around to tell me the secret tricks in how to raise a kid. You and Iris basically raised me 'cause my parents didn't do shit."

He exhaled, it was unstable and loud. Too loud.

"I want you to come back Barry. I don't want to believe that you're dead." One tear slips from eye and then another and before long he was crying right then and there.

Wally doesn't hear the burst of air from a few feet away and he doesn't see the flash of red speed away.

* * *

you're not hurt, are you happy now

* * *

His mind is too crazed. Things are soaring in and out, wings flapping and dinosaurs watching. He's blind as he stumbles to the door, knocking roughly. Through the haze he can see her answer the door, the scared look that follows.

He holds up the sleek pistol in hand, the woman shouting for her husband and holding her hands up.

It takes Raphael five minutes to grab them and drag them to Central City Park.

Cop cars are surrounding him, demands being shouted through microphones. Raphael sends the people gawking around him a foul glare, laughing stridently and feeling the woman in his arms flinch.

The gun presses wildly into the man's head. "You all better listen up or these two will die. I want Nightwing and the Flash here within the hour and if they don't show well . . . Mister and Missus West will cease to exist!"

* * *

looking over your shoulder fucking me over

* * *

"Are you sure you can handle such a debriefing Richard? I can come down there and do it for you if you want." Dick shakes his head, locking eyes with Clark through the webcam hooked up to the cave's main computer.

"I'll be fine. Wally and I are in charge of this debrief and it needs to be done so we can save Wally's parents. We finally know who Aeron is behind the monster he became and for us to move on it's best for the team to be filled in."

Clark exhaled, still unsure about the entire thing.

He had never been too close to Dick, though Bruce as a mutual friend. He would always leave matters revolving around Dick and the Young Justice Team to Barry or Oliver, considering they were closer to the members within—so this was uncharted waters for the both of them. Sometimes, Clark assumed the only way the Justice League was able to function was because of how they all had one true goal; protecting the world and the only reason that worked was because they all were equals to each other, all managed each other.

But it was the actual friendships, the real friendships, inside that Clark believed kept everything together.

Clark was close to Diana, he felt she understood him nearly as well as the people in his Clark Kent life.

Dinah and Oliver had always shared a special bond outside of the superhero world, which transferred over to the League.

Oliver and Barry were close in real life as the former had helped the speedster through some tough times when he had first started out as a hero, still learning the odds and ends of his newfound powers.

Barry also joked around infinitely with both Green Lanterns, though Clark didn't think their friendship went outside of the League.

Plus, he was the only one who seemed able to break through the massive barrier that was Bruce and they had built a friendship through the passions Barry showed and the ones Bruce hid. None of them ever expected the Dark Knight to have one of his closest friends be a hyperactive speedster—but that was how irony worked, wasn't it?

Clark shook such thoughts out of his head, he didn't want to think of the dead in such a light, even if it was a happy one. It hurt him a lot when Bruce or Barry came to mind, the part that pissed him off the most was the fact that he wasn't there to do anything. He was Superman, _Superman_ , for fuck's sake and had no idea who killed them, no way to save them.

To say the deaths of his two comrades hurt him was an understatement.

"Radio in if you need anything then, Black Canary and Captain Marvel are keeping watch on Hyades to make sure he doesn't do anything drastic while in wait for Wally and you to show up."

"The debrief will take less than ten minutes and then we'll be there. Nightwing o—"

"Richard?" Clark cut him off mid communication, still uncertain about such a situation. Dick could see the older man fidget tentatively through the monitor, face troubled. "I'm . . . sorry about Batman. Bruce was a . . . trusted ally and a great friend." He could see Dick look down at the keyboard for a second, before glancing back at his face through the screen.

"I miss him," he chuckled wryly, "a lot. More than I should."

Clark picked his next words wisely, not wanting to upset the former protégée. "That's understandable. It's a huge loss, one that a lot of us still haven't come to terms with." Dick nodded, eyelids fluttering closed for a moment.

"Richard, I can promise you I will find their killers." Clark was surprised with how fast his eyes shot back open, wide with rough apprehension.

"But we don't know who—"

"I'll find them and I will make sure they spend the rest of their lives behind bars." If Dick wasn't worried before, he was terrified now. One of the powerhouses of the Justice League had just vowed to find his father's murderer, without any idea that he was standing right before him. "Good luck with Hyades Richard, Superman out."

The connection fizzled out just as Wally sped into the room, coming to a stop next to his best friend. "Everyone is going to be here in a minute, you ready for this bud?" Dick exhaled heavily, dragging a hand down his face; cautious to not accidently pull off his domino mask.

"As ready as I ever will be." Wally sent him a sloppy grin but before he could say anything else, everyone started entering the main room.

Artemis and Wally had dropped off Ace in Star City a few hours before with Dinah and Oliver looking over him. They also figured it would be a great distraction for Ollie who was still holed up in the hospital bed—Ace had a great way of taking your mind off things. Dick and Wally moved back towards the computer so that they were front and center in the room and Dick waited until everyone was present before speaking.

"So as all of you know, Wally's parents were taken by Raphael Hyades not even an hour ago and he has sent a message to the world that he wants Wally and me _only_."

He looked around the room, taking in the nervous faces of his team. Artemis, Bart and Jamie were in a close cluster, faces hard and unwavering. M'gann, Conner and Gar stood on the other side, Conner's lips pulled in a taut frown as they listened warily. Tim, Barbara and Cassie were standing together, the last two with their arms crossed and Tim unintentionally fingering a hole in his cape out of concern. Kaldur and Zatanna were closest to Wally and Dick, listening fixedly.

"I was able to do some of my trademark hacking and I recovered any files revolving around Aeron Hyades. I found out a lot and most of it explains all of the things we didn't know. Though you guys aren't able to come on this mission with us, I still want you guys all on standby in case something go wrong—I want you guys on the coms to help us out. But to do that, you all need to understand who exactly Aeron Hyades is and why his father is seeking revenge."

Wally took over, letting out a dull laugh. "Without further wait, here is the true life of Aeron Hyades, also known as Victory."

Then with a simple thumb on the spacebar of the keyboard, multiple newspaper clippings appeared on screen, followed by a large family picture and too many blacked-out FBI, CIA, and Interpol case files.

* * *

this is far from over

* * *

"Aeron Victor Hyades, born January 16th, 1979. His age today is forty one." With a few extra clicks on the keyboard from Dick, the black lines faded out and words stood in their place. "As Robin and Wally already know from their past research; Aeron and his parents Eva and Raphael Hyades lived in a low-income apartment complex that caught fire on November 2nd, 1988 when Aeron was nine years old. Now the fire was brushed off as an accidental gas leak in which the town they lived in took full responsibility of."

"But there was a tragedy in that fire," Wally cut in, nodding towards Dick who continued.

"Eva Hyades, Aeron's mother, died from the fire. Reports state that Raphael was faced with a choice on who he could save as he only had time to run back into the building for one. He choose Aeron and that left a long lasting grudge. On top of all of that, there was speculation that the fire wasn't accidental—that it was started by mob boss Marcus Sandon."

Wally took over as Dick brought up a picture of a mangled body, Conner glancing down at Gar to make sure he was fairing okay (which he was, he wasn't a little kid anymore).

"Marcus was known for forcing people who lived in his area to pay him money and Raphael was one of the few looped into that. He didn't pay up one month and Marcus took care of it, by starting the fire. Or at least that's what Dick and I were able to put together." Dick looked grim as he brought up the next topic, still trying to put together the pieces in his mind on how Aeron was able to wipe himself from the system and not get caught for murder.

"On November 3rd, 1995 an unidentifiable body was found on the side of the street across from Aeron's old apartment complex. The body was cut up to pieces and marred in so many ways that it was deformed, impossible to get an ID on."

"Plus they didn't have the technically to do so back then," Wally interrupted, Dick sighing.

"The day before any trace of who Aeron was wiped from the international system. The facts all fit together that he killed the man, considering he would've been sixteen at the time and been physically able to do all things to the body that were done. The body disappeared off the planet after that but bearing in mind the fact that Marcus Sandon wasn't seen since that date I believe Aeron went back for revenge and killed the crime boss."

Wally scoffed, "And that started his obsession."

Artemis sent her boyfriend a worried glimpse, "Obsession?"

Dick nodded his head solemnly, "Obsession. I've found medical files that confirm Aeron having mental issues— he has Morgellons Disease, bipolar disorder and mild schizophrenia. Both are worsened because he is a genius in both science and math areas, Aeron having such a high IQ has made him doubt both diseases for a good part of his life which is why they are so bad now."

"His physical appearance didn't help," Wally noted, Dick turning to the computer and bringing up a picture from two years before.

"Aeron has burns all across his body from the fire, scars from scratching and cutting himself to try and deal with Morgellons Disease and a hideous deformation on his shoulder blade from birth that caused him torment for years. He wanted the cure to fix himself in every single way."

"So to deal with that," Wally muttered, "he became obsessed with finding a cure for himself. Obsessed to make the people who give him these issues and problems 'pay' for it. Starting when he was thirty five; he's traveled around the world kidnapping young adults, ages eighteen to thirty, and mutating their blood to try and create a cure. He did everything to anyone he captured; torture and death the two big things."

Dick shook his head, "He wanted to create a cure that would fix his skin condition and make him powerful, powerful enough to bring revenge on anyone who had ever doubted him or made fun of him."

"But it just gets better from there."

"Yeah," Dick brought up a new picture, one of a gravestone in a desolate field. The words were chipped and weathered heavily but everyone in the room could still make out the name.

 **Angel Everest Hyades**

 _ **Brighter than the sun.**_

—

Bart is the first one to notice it. "Why is there no birth and death dates?" Jamie sends the boy a pained scowl from beside him because he thinks he understands exactly why there aren't any dates. Dick blinks his eyes a few times, as if to try and wipe the fact from his brain.

"Before the fire happened, Eva was pregnant with Aeron's younger sister. Angel. Aeron had gotten mad at his mother for saying no about something and in response he had kicked her in the stomach. In return, Eva miscarried. Aeron's foot had made contact with the little girl's head inside, instantly killing her. The picture on screen is her grave," he finished off dumbly, but how the hell else could he say it? It was horrible what Aeron had gone through and it pissed Dick off to no _end_ that he actually felt bad for everything the sick man had gone through.

Wally picked up Dick's trailed off sentence, "The reason he did all that he did to us was because he was jealous—it was as simple as _fucking_ that." He ended sardonically, Artemis not liking how impassive his voice sounded. "He envied me because I have so much family and rivals Dick because he had gone through something traumatic and yet still built a new one."

That's probably why he had us kill Barry and Bruce, Wally thought gravely as an afterthought.

"Aeron has been killing and leaving a trail of bodies behind for six years with his father's help. Aeron would torture and kill the failures, leaving his father to go and find a spot to bury the bodies." Dick answered, M'gann feeling disgusted. How could someone do such a thing and feel no remorse? She felt bad whenever she burned a batch of cookies.

"Dick did some extra research on Raphael and found that Aeron got all of his issues from his father and not Eva. His father shares the bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. We think Aeron getting captured was the trigger for Raphael going off the edge. He's been hearing Angel's voice in his head for his entire life but it didn't get serious until the trigger, Aeron, was ripped away from him. It only appeared whenever he would bury bodies. But now . . . everything's changed."

The room wad deathly quiet after Wally stopped speaking, no one knowing exactly what to say. Dick headed towards the zeta beam, hands toying with the grapple gun on his belt.

"Man," Wally looked over to see his best friend waiting for him, "come on. We gotta go save your parents."

Wally bobbed his head and followed Dick over to the zeta beam, the motion stirring Artemis and Zatanna in motion as they moved towards the computer. "Your coms are hooked up to the loud speaker for the computer. All of us will be able to hear whatever you guys say and you will be able to hear all of us," Artemis replied, Zatanna tapping a few buttons to make sure they were all hooked up correctly.

Without any other words Dick and Wally entered the zeta beam and vanished, the sound of the computer reading off their names way too garish in the apparently suffocating room.

"Nightwing, B-01. Flash, B-03."

* * *

when I get to watch you burn

* * *

It takes them two minutes to get to the park and Raphael lets out a booming laugh once he sees the heroes standing in front of him. "Ah, to what do I owe the pleasure boys?" Dick clutched his escrima sticks tight in his gloved hands, Wally literally vibrating from anger next to him.

"Let them go Raphael. It's over."

The cops around them watched warily as the older man let out another laugh, Mary West cringing in his grasp.

"It will never be over Nightwing. My son, he gave you two the _world_ and you repay him by throwing him behind bars?"

"Your son was a monster!" Wally shouted, fingers clenched into fists at his sides.

Raphael locked eyes with the speedster as Rudy West struggled to get out of his grip, "He was immortal."

* * *

your time has come now

* * *

"I called you here to tell you that Aeron will come back for his revenge. I will be back for my revenge. These two were serve as a reminder for all of the things that could've been."

Then without any warning, he moved the gun and pulled the trigger.

* * *

you're gonna get what you deserve

* * *

"No!"

Wally's parents scatter, running to their son as he wraps himself in their arms. Dick stares at the dead body of Raphael, a pool of blood around the wound located directly in his forehead. Wally shushes his parents, not wanting them to blow his identity as the cops gently pried them from his hold; his mother's fingers still clutching tightly to his Flash suit before she's guided away.

Dick risks a glance at Wally whose perplexed expression says everything.

Relief flashes between them—relief that it wasn't Wally's parents in Raphael's position.

"Why?" Wally's question is bleak and both know they need to leave before the reporters stop them for questioning.

Dick reaches for his grapple gun, confused as ever. "I guess he just couldn't take the voice anymore. Come on, we have to go."

Wally nodded and zipped away, Dick aiming his grapple gun at the nearest building before he's gone too.

The lifeless eyes of Raphael Hyades seem to stare after the two heroes as they wane.


	10. ten

_**This**_ **chapter contains:**

Spoilers: Season 1 and Season 2

Random Lyrics from: Face Everything and Rise by Papa Roach

Pairings: Spitfire and Chalant

 _Important_ Extra Notes: Hey guys, sorry for the super delayed update I've been distracted by Black Ops III but no worries! Chapter 10 is here! So this is the ending and I would like to say a _huge_ thank you to all of you guys who have read, reviewed, followed and favorited! It all means everything to me, so thank you guys! :) So, do not fear as this story will have bonus chapters to come! There will be a poll on my profile about which one shots you guys would like to see first, so head over there and leave a vote for what you want to see! Now I'll let you guys get to it—please read, review and the most _important_ , enjoy.

 _This_ chapter is **rated teen for** heavy language (ahem, Jason's fault once again—he makes an appearance in this chapter), suggestive themes, some violence, trigger warnings for the mention of someone making a 'suicide pact' and be prepared for the ending . . .

* * *

NOTE: Quick _disclaimer_ , for news anchor's report on Penguin that it isn't mine; I got the idea from the Batman: Arkham Knight video game.

NOTE #2: The part where Wally's face vibrates and how his voice vibrates—again, not my idea, I got that from the CW television show 'The Flash' (if you haven't watched it, go and watch it—it is _amazing_ ).

* * *

the streets crawl with a deadly omen

* * *

"—the crooks where found this morning and all jewelry was returned to the proper owners. Meanwhile, Gotham's notorious crime mastermind the Penguin was apprehended by Blüdhaven's very own vigilante Nightwing last night. The Penguin had been shipping out illegal gun shipments to multiple different cities from a large weapon cache in our city but the operation is now destroyed. The citizens of Blüdhaven would like to say a thank you to Nightwing, our city has never been safer."

A video popped up in the top right corner of the television screen, showing a crowd of residents shouting and holding up posters with sloppy writings of 'thank you', 'we love you' and 'marry me' on them; audio from the video crackling with the sudden trio of girl's voices.

"Thank you Nightwing, from all of us!"

Along with a quiet scream from the back of the crowd, "We love you!" that erupts a loud cheer to start.

Wally elbows Dick with his arm, sending his friend a cheeky grin. "You're just getting all the chicks now, aren't you Dickie?" The man in question rolled his eyes, looking at Wally for a mere second before returning his sight to the news channel still playing through the television.

"You're just jealous that a bunch of hot girls in bikinis send a video saying how much they love Dick through a nationwide news channel," Artemis called from where she was making a pot of mac and cheese for dinner in the kitchen; Zatanna chuckling quietly from next to her as she continued chopping up lettuce for the salad to be used as a go-with. Dick laughed from his spot next to Wally on the couch, the latter turning and throwing his hands up.

"Well it _is_ unfair, the Flash doesn't get anything for all of the hard work he does in Central!"

It had been two weeks since the event with Raphael and things seemed to have finally started to settle down.

No other big crimes had been reported—besides some usual minor League manners for Zatanna, three attempted bank robberies successfully stopped by Wally (as the Flash) in Central City, crime suddenly spiking up in a lot of places in Blüdhaven that caused Dick to be out most the night trying to stop it all, and Ace coloring a _very_ detailed picture of something on the hallway wall to which after many threats both Dick and Wally claimed they had no idea where he learned such a thing from—but besides all of that, life had been remotely calm for the four heroes.

It was currently a Friday night and as Ace took his late-day nap in his parent's room while Artemis and Zatanna worked together on making a dinner of fried chicken, mac and cheese, white rice and salad—Dick and Wally were seated on the couch between Brucely watching the six o'clock news.

"You have a 'Flash Appreciation Day' once each year where an entire _day_ is dedicated to you Wally." Zatanna deadpanned from the kitchen, Artemis holding up her hand for a quick high-five.

Dick smirked as Wally went red faced, grumbling something about 'well it's not for me, it's for the _Flash_ ' under his breath.

Dick's apartment was cleaned spotless, thanks to Zatanna's amazing magic tricks, and though it was a little crowded for five people to be living there—Wally was working on changing that soon so that Dick and Zatanna could have a little space to really work on getting their relationship (this certain 'hook-up' of theirs) to work out this time.

But for now; Dick and Zee shared his master bedroom while Artemis and Wally shared the guest bedroom and had turned the walk in closet into a mini bedroom for Ace.

The living room was filled with the scent of burning oil and delightful spices, causing Wally's mouth to water unknowingly at times, and stomachs were rumbling softly in waiting (again, Wally's doing).

"It's just my point, why does Dick get all of the girls? I'm totally way better looking than he is."

Artemis scoffed from the kitchen, "Baywatch, the damn dog looks better than you."

Wally gasped as Zatanna and Dick exploded into brash laughter, both clutching at their stomachs as they tried to get ahold of themselves. "That wasn't funny babe," Wally muttered, crossing his arms over his chest as he turned back to the television, glare trying to burn a hole into the fuzzy screen.

Dick and Zatanna calmed their laughter after a few more fleeting seconds, the latter walking over and leaning down to press a kiss on Dick's cheek to which he made a snippy response to after turning his head slightly so that their lips connected for a brief moment.

"Well to some of us KF, none of those other girls matter because I got the best one right here."

Artemis raised a hand, "Amen to that—Wally I think you should take some dating lessons from Dick here, he knows how to treat a girl right."

Laughter entered the room again as Zatanna let go of Dick to head back into the kitchen, Wally groaning loudly. "I can't win!" Dick chortled, slapping Wally in the shoulder.

"No you can't. Now shut up so we can finish watching the news."

Wally grumbled under his breath as they both turned back to the television screen, just as the current news story finished up and the anchor went over the next topic. "Now here is our weekly update of the current crime rates of cities around us. Star City has the lowest current crime rate even with Green Arrow disappearing for the past few months, though there has been sightings of a young girl with an bow jumping from rooftop to rooftop in evening hours—"

Wally turned, sporting a large grin. "Babe! You're on TV!"

Dick hit Wally in the chest, "Shut it, I want to hear this!" He hissed, Wally turning and shooting the dark haired man a glower.

"—tham City hasn't had too many incidents so they are third in lowest crime rates, with the Batman having locked up most of the mainstream criminals in these past months."

A lax smile found its way across the younger man's features, Wally looking to his friend with pride. As Wally had taken up the Flash identity in Central, Dick had donned the cape and cowl that would portray him as Batman on a few random nights for Gotham. Where Wally's reasons were more for protecting Barry's secret identity to be known and to keep an extra eye on Iris, Dick was being Batman for him.

No one would be able to connect the dots in the first place, Batman had no close ties with anyone, but he was putting on the suit to remind himself of all that Bruce had done for the world. Though he would never be able to be as independent as Bruce was to all of the people in the world, whenever he wore that cape he felt something.

He felt like the Batman. He felt like Bruce.

"Central City comes in second place, with crime having escalated. Though any serious crimes have been stopped by the Flash." Wally threw his arms up, flexing his muscles with a baited look towards Artemis in the kitchen.

"Hear that babe? I'm a top news story!"

Dick threw a couch pillow at Wally, Brucely letting out a soft whine as the latter shoved the pillow off him and onto the dog. "Shut it!"

"—haven has the highest crime rate right now, which puts it in first place. In other news," a picture of a body covered with a white sheet appeared next to the news anchor, "the death of Raphael Hyades is still stumping the CCPD authorities. Hyades had kidnapped Mary and Rudolph West from their suburban home, holding them hostage in Central City Park for an hour before Nightwing and Flash showed up to take care of the issue. Before anything else could happen though, Hyades shared a few words with the heroes before ending his own life."

The mood in the room seemed to darken as Artemis spared a look to Zatanna and all clatter came to a halt in the kitchen. Both headed to the living room where their other sat with tensed postures; Artemis running her hand over Wally's bicep as Zatanna turned off the television.

Hyades was a sore topic, as his words hadn't quite left the two heroes just yet.

Dick was still spending every extra hour he had to himself dissevering the words burned into his memory (that damned _gunshot_ echoed through his ears every minute) whereas Wally sometimes would just start suddenly thinking about the manner and then have to sped off running laps through Los Angles to Florida just to stop the burning feeling in his veins from the nonexistent cure that still rested there.

"Come on Baywatch, dinner's ready," Artemis murmured in his ear, tugging at his calloused fingers.

Zatanna did the same for Dick, as all four walked over to the table in silence.

* * *

outside i see a world that's broken

* * *

It's halfway through dinner when Wally can't stand the sound of stretched silence around them any longer—after all, seconds were like minutes and minutes were like hours to a speedster. "I can't take this anymore," Artemis sends Wally a worried glance, an expression that's forlorn in the room.

Ace looks up from his plate confused. "What do you mean Daddy?"

Wally barely spares his son more than a second's worth of a glance, turn to face the three other adults who know _exactly_ what he's talking about in the room. "I can't take it! Just, just the fact that Hyades still has us acting like his puppets even after he's been locked away and his father has been killed! It's like whatever he did to us now will forever be with us for the rest of our lives!"

Artemis puts down her fork and knife (for safety because a part of her is tempted to stab Wally with the knife for bringing up Hyades in front of Ace while another part wants to throw the fork at his face and hope to hit him) then sending her boyfriend a hallow glare. "Wally, not now." She mumbles, reaching over and tugging at his shirt's sleeve.

He pulls his arm from her soft grip, green eyes lock with Dick's baby blues.

"I know, I freaking _know_ , that whenever you do try to get some type of sleep you twist and turn all night long because it feels like there's something twisting around inside of you Dickie! I know because I feel it too, the withdrawal of this damn cure!"

Ace looked at his father curiously, then his eyes traveled over to where Uncle Dick sat frozen in his chair. "What do you mean Daddy," he repeated, "that there is something twisting around inside of you? Like . . . you ate a bug?"

Any other time Ace's innocent humor would've caused everyone to laugh, considering the 'ate a bug' part came from the boy overhearing Wally talking to Artemis about how it wasn't too wise to ever open your mouth while running at super speed, but the tension in the air was thick.

Artemis reached over and placed a hand on her son's arm, "He means nothing sweetie, Daddy is just acting a little stupid right now. Wally, shut _up_ ," she growled, understanding his pain but knowing that Ace not getting any nightmares that night was higher on her list. She could calm Wally down from a night terror easily but Ace was a little bit more of a challenge.

"I'm so fuck—"

" _Wally_." Artemis cut him off, sending him a glare that would've caused any other person that wasn't used to her scary tactics to cringe. He easily ignored it, turning his attention back to Dick.

"You have no idea what it's like, this freaking feeling, to feel it every second of every day." Wally whispered, Artemis seething in her seat. She cared for him, yeah and she loved him, and he might've still been learning the ropes in being a parent—but Artemis knew damn sure that she couldn't have him acting like this in front of Ace; she didn't need him to have a bad image of his father.

All of these years she had done her damned best to make sure that Ace thought of Wally as some amazing man, not some guy that had just got up and left them. She had worked hard to make sure his image was never tainted. He was dumping all of her hard work down the drain, she could see it by the fearful looking starting to slowly show in Ace's eyes.

Wally's fist abruptly slammed down on the table, causing Zatanna to flinch and some of the silverware to jump.

"I can't _stand_ not knowing what Hyades meant by talking about revenge, and then putting a gun to his head and blowing his brains out! Was it a message? Are there other people out there in the world with the cure in them just waiting to strike? Are Dick and I ever going to be sane?" His pitch raised after each new question, piercing and hateful by the end. He had stood up from the table midway, shoulders vibrating softly from the rage funneling through his bones.

Dick, who had said nothing from start to finish, stood up and looked to his best friend with a frown. "I can't stand not knowing either KF, but now is _not_ the time to be making a scene. Not in front of Ace."

Artemis envied Dick for being able to keep his voice so smooth and calm, where she was about to launch herself and attack Wally—boyfriend or not. His vibrations quickened; arms thumping, fingers twitching erratically, legs bobbing, face phasing in and out. Artemis pushed herself away from the table, standing up and attempting to move towards Wally who took a rough step backwards at her actions.

Ace looked from father to mother wearily, not too sure of what was happening.

He didn't understand why Wally's face was disappearing and reappearing so quickly, why his lips would be clear one seconds and then gone the next, why his nose would look like there were five there instead of one. It was only when his father had spoken again that Ace had gotten really freaked out, because his voice was warped and deep and garbled and _not_ his.

Dick and Artemis knew what was happening, all speedsters had the talent but it was only able to happen if they were highly skilled in the speed force. It seemed like Wally didn't realize he was doing it, the only reason it was happening was because his emotions were running high. He was so worked up that his body was vibrating fast enough to phase in and out of the spot, too fast for the eye to catch. His vocal chords were moving so fast that they were causing a disgusted voice to escape him, one that wasn't his.

"Baywatch," she started off carefully, eyes floating between Dick and Wally, "you need to calm down."

He said nothing, smoke rising from the carpeted floor from the friction. Dick cursed under his breath, knowing nothing good was going to come from this if Wally kept this up. So without warning he took a step forward and reached out a hand, Wally avoiding his touch like wildfire.

"Don't come near me," he croaked, eyes burning, voice cracking under the weight of emotion, "I can't stand it Dick. This fucking _feeling_ . . . I just can't stand it."

Dick held his hands up in a surrender motion, "I know Walls. I know because I deal with the same exact feeling every damn day. You aren't alone in this and I want all of the same answers that you do but you need to calm down before something stupid hap—"

A cry of pain came from behind Wally suddenly and heads whipped around to see Ace standing there, clutching at his right hand.

* * *

i can't breathe, my heart is chokin'

* * *

Artemis' heart dropped at the sight of her son, tears rimming his eyes and grasping his hand like it was burnt, running over to him and pulling him back away from her boyfriend. Wally looks dumbfounded, eyes floating between where Zatanna stands a pace behind Dick holding his hand to where Artemis is crouched down inspecting Ace's hurt hand.

All can see the bright red of his hand and the sight sickens all of them, even Wally, because it looks like a burn you would get from accidently touching the stove while it was running. It looks painful, and that's what kills Wally as he involuntarily slows down; shoulders not rocking as much and smoke from the floor smothering deliberately.

Ace's eyes never leave the unwavering stare directed at Wally's face as all the older man can do is stare at his son's burnt hand.

They all know that Ace had tried to reach for Wally in the shouting match, tried to grab onto one of his hands so he could tug at the arm and find out what in the heck was going on, but the plan had backfired. Wally was moving so fast that the action of Ace attempting to grab his hand had caused him injury.

Wally is snapped back to the present by Artemis muttering soothing words to Ace, who can't help but cry by now. "You're okay baby, it's alright. I know it hurts but you'll be alright." Wally opened his mouth but nothing came out as he whirled himself around to look back at Dick and Zatanna, both of whom meant his eyes with leaden looks that offered him no help.

He turned back to Ace and Artemis, hands shaking at his sides as Ace whimpered, whispering. "Momma, it hurts,"

"I know baby but listen, you remember what I always say to you?"

Ace seemed to think for a minute, sniffling as an answer came to him.

"T-That I'm your little speedster?"

Artemis nodded, chuckling. "Yes. That you're my little speedster. You are my little speedster and I'm always gonna keep you safe alright?"

The nickname was unintentional, just a slip of the tongue one day. But it had stuck so at times when Ace needed comforting Artemis would always bring up the nickname, the fact that he was 'her little speedster'. And even though he wasn't a true speedster and he didn't have any powers, he was a speedster at heart because he was a part of Wally's family. Of their family.

Wally raised a quivering hand, reaching for Artemis.

"B-Babe, beautiful, I-I didn't mean it I'm s-so . . . I'm so sorry. W-What can I d-do?"

Artemis barely turned her head, exhaling in regret at what she was about to say. "Leave."

Wally was taken aback, "W-What?" His hand shot back down to his side, Dick sighing from somewhere behind Wally.

"I said leave Wally." He gulped and stayed frozen to his spot, jumping when Artemis stood up and walked over to him; shoving him roughly backwards.

"Leave!" The action prompted Wally into motion as he took off by super speed through the door, Artemis letting a tear fall before turning back to Ace to tend to his wound. Dick mumbled something under his breath, heading towards the open front door but not before speaking to Zatanna in a quiet whisper so that Artemis couldn't hear.

"Will you keep an eye on Artemis for me? I'm going to go find Kid Idiot before he does something else stupid." She nodded as he moved close and they shared a quick deep kiss, and then faster than Zatanna could react h was gone and the front door was closing in his place.

* * *

i need a cure for this life i've chosen

* * *

Wally says nothing when Dick appears at his side by Barry's gravestone two hours later. The approaching nighttime hours are looming over them in the sky, moon gaping down at them by casting devious shadows across their daunting cheekbones. Wally actually wishes it was darker so Dick wouldn't be able to see the faint lines of tear tracks down his cheeks.

Wally waits a good while before breaking the silence between them effortlessly.

"Want to make a suicide pact?" Dick for a minute thinks he's joking, but then figures out that he's not because the tone of his voice is far too momentous for such a punchline.

So in reply he crosses his arms and sighs heavily, "Truthfully?"

Wally waits a moment, "Yeah."

Dick's lips screw into a scowl, "If you would've asked me that four years ago, after being kidnapped, I probably would've said yes."

"But now?"

Dick chuckles lowly, "Now, my answer would be no. Want to know why?" Wally scoffs softly.

"Go for it Boy Blunder." Dick reaches over and punches Wally in the shoulder playfully, shaking his head at the old teasing nickname the Gotham criminals used to use on him back in his Robin days—back when everything was simpler.

Back when the two boys were mocking each other just because they could.

"Because I have Zatanna, Artemis, Ace and you. Because I have Bruce in my heart. Because I have Conner, M'gann and Gar. Because I have the old Young Justice Team at my side along with everyone on the new one. Because I have Barbara, Tim and Alfred. Because I know a close-knit family of speedsters that remind me that love is everywhere; Barry, Bart, Iris and you. Because I'm honored to know who the Flash is behind the mask. Because I have my best friend right here next to me through it all."

Wally chuckled wryly, looking up from Barry's gave to glance at Dick. A genuine smile covered his face, collected emotions flashing by.

"Damn it Dick," he mutters, "what in the hell would I do without you?"

Dick moves close and pulls his best friend into a brotherly hug, patting his back. "I don't know dude, but you sure as hell would be lost a lot more often."

They hug each other for a while and then Wally tells Dick of his plans for after he makes up to Artemis. Dick tells him that for Wally being such an idiot most of the time, the plans are the best ones he's ever heard.

* * *

my pain is a blessing in disguise

* * *

After Dick is sure that Wally is okay they part ways near midnight, Wally heading home to go and apologize to Artemis and make sure Ace is okay (with a message for Zee that he would be getting home a few hours later and not to wait up for him) he heads to the abandoned rooftop of the warehouse Aeron had held them at for so many years and waits.

It's another twenty minutes before he hears the click of a grapple gun as the man swings onto the rooftop next to Dick to join him, landing with finesse and fingers already tracing over the triggers of his pocketed hostlers faster than Dick can blink.

"You came."

The masked man nods stiffly, still fingering the triggers of the guns. "Don't know why. What do you want kid?" Jason does his best to keep his voice even, because it's his _brother_ standing in front of him and he's afraid that Dick's figured out everything.

Dick simply shrugs, taking a long glance around him.

"This is where Wally and I were held captive for four years. Nice place isn't it?"

Jason feels his stomach churn at the mention of their captivity. He kicks himself everyday over not discovering everything that had been happening sooner. "I care why?"

It comes out more bitter than Jason had whispered it because of the mask on his face (that was usually so fitting any other day but suffocating around his face right now) and he does care. He cares _so_ much, damn it.

" _I fucking hate you Dickie, you know that right?"_

Dick turns around and faces the red mask head on, noticing the man still has his red hood pulled snug over his head. "You don't. But I just wanted to tell you anyway." He doesn't know how to say what he's thinking really; it's not like he can just be like 'by the way, are you my dead brother Jason?'.

 _Dick moves towards Jason and tugs him into a tight hug, laughing as he struggled to get away._

Jason's hand still fumble with the flaps to his hostlers, Dick thinking the man seems hesitant of the entire situation. Which Dick would agree completely on.

This was a stupid idea, asking this stranger who had saved his life to come and meet him after months of searching for how to reach him.

Now was his chance to ask why, just _why_ , he had called him 'Dickie'—a name only Wally, Bruce, Jason and Tim (now including Zatanna and Artemis) knew about? But the words seemed clogged in his throat, bothering his stomach.

After another tense moment of silence, Dick can see the man reach for his grapple gun to try and leave, and the words; _God_ , they just blurt _out_ because Dick doesn't want to lose his one chance at answers. "Jay wait,"

" _I love you too brother," Jason groaned, muttering a string of curses under his breath, "even when you act like a little troll."_

The masked man laughs. Jason actually laughs at Dick calling him by his name, a breathy laugh that is filled with far too much relief to be sane. Dick feels his own lips tug into a smile, one that's huge and lights up the rooftop. It was him. Jason was alive.

 _Jason is busy beating up a dummy in the Bat Cave one day, letting out a good amount of his pent up rage from his earlier failed mission on the beaten material. He's too busy screaming and shouting out curse to hear Dick make his way into the room._

"I knew you would figure it out someday," Jason mutters, red mask meeting concerned blue eyes. They had moved into a position where their legs were hanging off the roof and sides touching. Jason had told him the story about surviving, about the Pit, about the deal.

About the change inside of him that he knew had happened.

 _It was just supposed to be an easy recon mission with Dick and Bruce. But he had done something impulsive and Dick's position was comprised, resulting in the Joker getting the upper hand and kicking the living shit out of him._

"I'm not the same Dick," after the two had been speaking with each other for about an hour, sharing stories, Jason speaks what he knows they are both thinking about. Dick sighs from next to him, eyes watching the bright moon above them.

"That doesn't matter. You're still my brother."

 _Jason knew it was his fault Dick had gotten hurt. It was always his fault._

"Am I really Dickie? After all of the fucking shit I've done, all I've killed, all I am." His voice is small and he raises a shaky hand to the back of his mask, clicking a few buttons so that a hissing sound comes from it as it falls off—Jason catching the red menace with clumsy hands. Dick looks over and into the eyes he swore he would never forget.

You don't forget family, no matter how far they stray.

" _Jay?"_

His cheeks are caved in more than they should have been (from living in crappy hotels with messed up meals, Dick thinks), with hostile eyes that don't hold the same fire as they used to, paled lips, a sullen jawbone that is daunting but malnourished with not eating correctly and hair that is dyed a different color.

The biggest difference by far is the 'J' on his cheek, that looked burned on in a brand from a good time ago.

 _He freezes in place at the sound of Dick's weak voice from behind him, turning around to see the tired eyes of his older brother staring knowingly at him. Jason scrambles for something say, settling on a safe route, "You're supposed to be in bed. Resting."_

Memories flash through Dick's mind. The good, bad and ugly. But he knows that it's Jason in front of him underneath all of the differences.

It's Jason. It's his brother.

 _Dick looks unamused, "So are you."_

"I don't care how different you are now Jay, you are still my family. And you are welcome at the Manor, or my apartment. Do you know how happy Al would be if he saw you? Or Barbra?" Jason's lips tripped into a smile, one that spoke volumes to Dick.

He was lonely.

 _Jason sends another punch the dummy's way. "It's my fucking fault you're hurt. If I wasn't so damn careless you wouldn't be hurt!"_

Jason and Tim didn't really get to bond, of course part of that was because they had only known each other for two months before Jason had 'died'. Dick faintly thinks they would've been close friends if they had gotten the chance to get close to one another.

A part of Dick even thinks they would've bickered more than Jason and him used to.

" _Jay," Dick takes a step forward and grabs his shoulder, spinning the younger boy around to face him, "this shit, these bruises? They aren't your fault. I'm fine. Remember how I always tell you that I'm here to keep you safe? Well, this was me doing my duty. Don't beat yourself up over it."_

"I'm not coming back home Dickie. I can't. I can't go home and then get the looks. I can't." Jason's answer is clipped but nothing Dick doesn't expect.

He was always a bullheaded bastard.

 _That's when Jason moves forward and collapses into Dick's arms, the older catching him with a pained grunt as he brushes across one of his bandaged injuries and holding him tight in his arms._

Jason exhales, "I'm sorry about Bruce. I heard about it through the news. I'm sorry I wasn't there Dickie."

 _Dick feels the tears on his bare torso, the way they dampen the white bandaging covering him. But he doesn't mind. He simply holds Jason until he runs out of cusses to mutter and muffles shouts to scream about. He shushes him, running his hands through Jason's sweaty hair. "I'll always be here for you Jay. Damn it I always will."_

Dick shakes his head, "There's nothing you would have been able to do. What's done is done."

 _After Jason is calm enough to feel embarrassed over his breakdown in front of Dick, he continues beating up the dummy as Dick watches from where he sits in the chair by the bat computer. "Hey, Jason. Promise me one thing." His voice causes Jason to stop moving and listen carefully._

They talk for two more hours until Jason decides it's time for him to return to reality. They bid their farewells with smiles at first, and awkward looks.

" _Don't ever leave me. Okay?"_

But then Dick can't take it anymore as he reaches forwards and tugs Jason into the tightest hug he's ever given. Jason is froze for a second and then is reminded of their hugs when they were younger and the hugs Ace had given him. And he's reminded of the warmth—the caring warmth of being hugged by someone who loves you.

"I'm going to miss you Jay, you little troll," Dick mumbles into his shoulder, Jason smiling.

"I'm gonna miss you too Dickie."

Then Jason pulls away and they both laugh softly before he grabs his grapple gun from his belt and aims it far away. With a final look to Dick before he returns the red mask over his head, Jason Todd—Red Hood—leaves.

 _Jason smiles to himself, sending an upper-hook to the dummy's jaw. "I'm never going to Dickie. Trust me."_

He's reminded of a promise from years ago when they were younger, when he had gotten hurt and Jason had felt so guilty and Dick had made him promise that he would never leave. He's reminded of that promise now as all he can do is watch as Jason jumps from rooftop to rooftop; never to be seen again.

Dick knows somewhere inside that this was their final goodbye, that Jason was going to skip town and find a new place to live.

He was always running from something and this time it wasn't death after him.

No, Dick was sure he was running from the hope that had somehow found him again. Jason always hated change. Dick was sure that hope, that same hope that had reunited two brothers again, had scared him away.

But he understood.

Everyone had their demons, everyone had their angels.

Jason just didn't let either stick around with him for too long.

* * *

i feel it cutting and it's cutting like a knife

* * *

Dick stealthily sneaks into their shared room, getting changed in the pitch black hours of three in the early morning. Then he climbs into bed, careful with gathering Zatanna in his arms and pulling her close to the front of his chest. She snuggles into his hold and he freezes, afraid he had woken her.

But then she raises her head to press a tender kiss to his neck, sighing softly.

"Wally said that you told him to tell me not to wait up."

Dick exhales, "Yeah, so you could get some sleep."

Zatanna laughs gently as his hands stroke up her back, "I don't like rules too much Dick, you know that." He hums in reply, closing his eyes in peace at the feel of his girlfriend so close to him, at the warmth all around them. "Was it him?" She mumbles a few minutes later, Dick smiling.

They had talked about Jason for a while here and there because Dick couldn't shake the feeling that it was him behind the mask. Hell, his emotions were still flying high after they had just caught up for four hours that night; so it wasn't a surprise that Zatanna had remembered.

"Yeah. It was. Jay's alive, different but alive and that's all I can ask for."

Then he pauses, feeling her hot breath fanning out across his neck as she curled into him more. And another, albeit impulse, thought smacked into him. What better time than 3:17 on a Saturday morning when they were both half asleep?

"Zee?"

"Yeah," she murmured, eyes slipping shut once again.

"I love you. Alright? I do and I swear I'll love you through everything and anything. When I look at my future, I see you and a little girl with your hair and stunning eyes. And when I look at you," he muttered, "I see the definition of beauty. I see the person I treasure the most in this messed up world. I love you."

If she wasn't so tired and if it wasn't such an emotional moment she would've taken him right then and there. But this was something more than the heat they had always shared, this was serious and this? Was theirs.

Zatanna says nothing for a minute, searching for his hand and then finding it and interlacing their fingers drowsily.

But then when she does speak again with a raspy voice tainted by fatigue, damn if it isn't the _most_ beautiful thing Dick's ever heard.

"I love you too Dick . . . when I look at my future, I see the last name Grayson after mine and I see your parents with us down the aisle because even though they aren't here they will always be with you and I see that little girl with your blue eyes and your mother's first name. I see us together. I see my unending love for _you_."

His lips split into a grin so wide that he's surprised his face doesn't break as he pulls her closer, pressing his face into her hair. They stay pressed closed together like that until falling asleep and both dream of their future with the last name Grayson tagged onto everything.

* * *

but it feels like the tide is turning

* * *

In the upcoming weeks everything is slowly changing for the better.

Dick visits Wayne Manor every other day to check up on Alfred, who teaches him how to make homemade Pork Chops with buttered corn on the side and Fried Chicken (he only burnt himself on the grease seven times while Alfred rolled his eyes so many times Dick thought he was going to lose his sight), but they also talked about anything and everything. He was like Dick's grandfather, who was now more lonely than he would admit without Bruce to talk to but Dick made sure that Tim and Barbara kept on eye on him whenever he wasn't over fooling around with the older man trying to teach him how to cook in the kitchen.

He takes care of the bat family, as shattered as it is, because it's the only family Dick has left.

He spars with Tim whenever he can, making sure he teaches him every trick in the book until a fire burns bright enough inside of him that it's like Jason is right there next to him.

Dick also hangs out with Barbara more, because she helps him with Zatanna, but also because she's only a few years younger than he is so she understands his troubles and stress better than everyone else (the many years they had known each other had only heightened that).

But all in all, he takes care of the bat family because he wants to make sure they all heal from the tragedies that had struck them.

Wally and Artemis make up; the former buying Ace a new fancy dinosaur toy at the end of each passing day to reassure the boy that such a thing, him getting hurt like that, would never happen again. Their trust as a family is healed and when Wally suddenly brings the two on a secret drive to Central City he reveals a brand new house for them to live in. It's two stories and it's beautiful, with five bedrooms and two bathrooms and polished hardwood floors.

She kisses him senseless, only stopping when Ace voices his playful hate on their love (after that Wally had scooped him into a hug and they ran through the house as Artemis yelled at them from afar).

A zeta tube was added to the abandoned house next door for emergencies of any kind (along with one closer to Dick's apartment back in Blüdhaven).

Wally visited Aunt Iris and Bart every chance he got, whenever he wasn't running around as the Flash or trying to convince Artemis to sleep with him again, and he took care of them with a full heart. Though the guilt within still was as bold as ever, so he visited Barry's grave every night after Ace had been put to bed.

They were happy, even if Artemis still didn't have a ring on her finger but unknown to her—Wally had a plan for that too.

The old Young Justice Team helped Dick with being the leader and helped out the Justice League when they needed it. Conner and M'gann got engaged (Wally had talked Conner into it, Dick and Kaldur having to go back and fix anything that wasn't proper for M'gann's sake) and Gar was excited beyond belief, though that might've been from the fact that the two had also got official papers done to make sur he was adopted as their son.

Kaldur took over most of the duties as leader for Dick, as he was happy alone.

As for the other members floating around; La'gaan healed, Cassie and Tim became boyfriend and girlfriend after a while of bickering, Jamie and Bart were now true best friends (kind of like a new Rob and KF, as Wally had joked one time), and Oliver heals over time with help from Dinah.

Everything is mended now—like as if the world is in a tranquil moment of peace for a while.

Everyone knows its because all of the crooks out there had heard about what Nightwing and the Flash had been through; a saying was evening going around about how 'the two showed their past scars so proudly that any thug who saw them cowered in fear of what the hero survived'.

But neither let it go to their heads. It was their job to save the world at the cost of theirs, right?

* * *

lightning strikes my heart is storming

* * *

Artemis was confused.

Wally had taken her out to a fancy dinner, dressed up at that, and not once had he pissed her off with a cocky comment.

Now they were walking along a beach he had raced them two, hand in hand as the sand got stuck between their bare toes and the sun lowered slowly behind the horizon in a furry of stunning colors. Purple, pink, orange and yellow mixed together to create a stunning picture.

She was waiting for the punchline; for Wally to want something in return (probably some wild night in a hotel room or embarrassing her by making her sing his favorite song with her horrid singing voice) but no requests came. And only when the sun had disappeared from the sky did they stop walking.

Wally turned towards her and released her hand from his hold, reaching into the pocket of his tux and pulling out a small dark red box before kneeing in front of her. She chuckled, pulling her hands up to cover her gaping mouth.

Damn, she should've saw this coming.

"Artemis Crock, I love you. I love you more than anything else in the world, more than my speed even. I know at first we hated each other but I think I did that because I wanted to hide my feelings for you, and we've fought over the years but I find myself not wanting to do anything without you. So, beautiful," she melted right then and there, as she always did when he used that nickname since that faithful mission in the desert, "will you marry me?"

She removes her hands from her face and grins. "Hell yes Baywatch."

He's so happy he speeds towards her, her back hitting the sand with a soft thump before he slips the ring on her finger and kisses her with the most passion he's ever used with her. His lips detach from her mouth to only whisper eight small words that remind her of a certain New Year's Eve kiss.

"I should have done this a long time ago."

And as he presses a heated kiss to her neck, she mumbles two words back. "No kidding,"

* * *

i will face everything and rise

* * *

They are sitting on top of a building in the middle of Central City; one has their feet hanging off the ledge while the other leans against an air conditioner unit—watching the cars speed by below wordlessly. They are dressed in tedious civilian clothes with bland colors and dull stains.

The one in the front has on a simple red tee shirt whose hem is ripped in different spots with a faint mustard stain on the right shoulder, along with a pair of black jeans and some grey converse. To finish off his look; a blue baseball cap was twisted backwards over his hair, with black sunglasses over his eyes. He had no idea if anything matched, he had never been too good with that area—even back when he was a nerdy teenager.

But the person who had helped him match clothes for the past few years wasn't around so he had just grabbed whatever he could off the grimy shelves of the thrift store.

The man behind him was dressed more professionally, obviously experience from years before still lingering with him. A crisp black suit adorned his bulky form with an undone blue tie around his neck, along with black dress pants and some polished boots covering his feet. The only thing out of place for that man's look was the dark blue bandana covering his hair, making him look oddly different but surely unrecognizable.

The silence between them was smothering and the man leaning off the edge of the building suddenly let out a dry chuckle, shattering the peace. "Is it even possible to kill the Batman?"

The man behind him sent over a punitive glare in return, "You tell me."

The former laughed again, shaking his head. "I never thought it was possible." The man behind him rolled his eyes, about to not answer but deciding that the man in front of him had a valid point. He didn't think it was possible either until it had happened.

"I didn't think it was possible either."

The man in front turned his head with a large grin, "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

The man in front lets out a bark of laughter as he stands up and moves towards the man behind him. "It's crazy, isn't it? All of this?" He slings an arm around the other man's shoulders, the two watching the clouds glide through the sky. The man with the bandana pushed away from the other man, exhaling.

"I don't know how it's possible but," he pauses for a moment, "but I'm grateful."

"Me too."

The silence encases them again.

* * *

angels keep falling from the sky

* * *

"I, I don't want to wait any longer."

"We have to."

"We've been waiting long enough, they deserve to know—"

"Enough. We can't tell them, we have to wait until we have enough answer to give." The man in the bandana's final words stop the other man from saying anything else as he walks towards the ledge of the building; staring down at his city below with a straight face.

His ears unexpectedly pick up on the faint sound of gunshots and he turns his head to see a bank under lockdown by a bunch of crooks. The man turns to tell his friend but before he can he hears a whooshing sound and turns back around to see the man tied up on the ground, reporters swarming around the hero.

The Flash stands proud at the front of the bank.

The man with the bandana comes up next to his friend, crossing his arms. "Looks like the Flash is keeping an eye on the city." He comments curtly.

* * *

i'll take the broken wings and learn to fly

* * *

The first man, the one in the red tee shirt, can see the smile on the Flash's face; he can basically feel the excitement flowing off of the hero from up on the rooftop. He registers what the man next to him says gradually, a grin spreading its way across his face as he watches the Flash bid farewell to the reporters and speed away.

"Yeah, it looks like he is," the man with the red tee shirt whispers, watching the red blur as it weaved through parked cars and trees.

"You must be proud." The man retorts brusquely, but a smile is spreading across his face as well at the information.

"I am." The man with the red tee shirt follows the blur until he can't see it anymore. "Good job kiddo."

* * *

end


End file.
